A Little Kiss Can Change Everything
by Silvine Fae Graycin
Summary: When Rose pins Dimitri in the field experience, they end up kissing in front of everyone who had been watching. What problems could this cause for them, if any? And is any one really surprised about it? rating may change since I am writing as I go.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first Vampire Academy fanfic. I got into Vampire Academy because I was bored and needed a book to read. I found VA at target and decided that since i am a twilight fan, i might like VA, too. well, obviously i did. i read the first one in like two days, and then promptly bought the other three books. read the whole series in less than a week. Anxiously awaiting the next book. Shadow Kiss is my favourite so far.**

**now that one ramble is done, time for another. i don't know how long i will be in updating. sixteen pages written so far, but somehow its only two chapters. I hope they aren't too long. if this one is, tell me and i will try to shorten them. and i am not sure where this fic is going exactly, so that doesn't help me. I am tossing a few ideas around in my head. and yes, i know this chapter is alot like Shadow Kiss, but i promise, it starts to change in the second chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. If I did, I would have had the next book released already. and i would know what happens in it, too.**

Dimitri and I stared at each other, not noticing the spectators cheering around us. I knew my look probably mirrored his right now. Love and passion. I had him pinned, but he was able to move towards me. I started moving towards him too, and we kissed, forgetting where we were and that others were watching us.

"What the hell?" some one behind us said. I think it had been Yuri. Whoever it was snapped Dimitri and I out of our trances, and we realized what we'd just done. In front of the whole school. Shit.

I jumped off of Dimitri like I had been electrocuted, and he stood up the moment I was off of him. We looked at each other, both knowing that one, or both, of us was in trouble. All I could think was that it couldn't be him who got in trouble. He'd lose his job. I knew how important being a guardian was to him.

"Whats going on?" a new voice said. It was Alberta. By now the students who had been watching were either leaving, whispering about what had just happened, or both. Only one remained still, eye's wide with shock. Lissa hadn't expected this, of all things, to happen. I could feel her shock through the bond. "why does every one look like there's a conspiracy going on here?" DImitri and I looked at each other, while jean and Yuri looked back and forth between us. Alberta looked back and forth between yuri and jean, and Dimitri and I. "you four, come with me. Now."

Alberta began walking away. Dimitri and I began to follow her. Yuri and Jean followed suit. I noticed they walked between Dimitri and I. _Rose, you and I are going to talk later,_ Lissa said through the bond. She sounded hurt, and I immediately felt awful for not telling her. And she certaily shouldn't have found out like this. I was dreading that talk more than I was dreading what Alberta would say. Finally, we arrived at Alberta's office. All of us some went inside and Alberta closed the door.

"Belikov, what the hell are you thinking? She's seventeen for gods sake," Yuri said as soon as the door was completely shut.

"Its Illegal," Jean said. "This could ruin both of you, and Rose has enough going against her, you know that."

"Hello, it wasn't just him, you know," I said, defending Dimitri.

"Roza, you're not helping," DImitri said, grabbing my hand to calm me down. Alberta had yet to say anything. She just sat at her desk, massaging her temples.

"You know what has to be done now," Yuri said. I saw Dimitri wince.

"All of you stop," ALberta said. We turned towards her. "I think his is a special circumstance. Rose has improved greatly since her return. And she's learned more discipline and self control in that short time than she had in all her years before she and the princess left. I don't think anyone but Dimitri could have had that kind of influence on her."

"Guardian Petrov, you don't seem so surprised by this," Jean noted. She had a point. Alberta seemed remarkably calm.

"you're right. I'm not. I've been keeping an eye on this for some time now. This is the first time I have seen them do anything obvious. Well, I didn't see it, but judging by your responses, I guessed it."

"So what are you going to do?" Yuri asked. He didn't seem like he wanted anything done. He just didn't want to break any rules. That was the way guardians lived their lives.

"Well, I want to talk to these two alone. You two keep this qiuet, if it already isn't all over campus. If we stop the spreading of his occurrence, we might not have to take too much action," Alberta said.

"keep it quiet? Like that's ever going to happen wth how many students there were watching, Yuri mumbled. Jean Elbowed him to tell him to shut up and they left.

"He's right," Alberta said. "students like to gossip. Its probably all over campus by now. Why couldn't you two have kept this in your private practices?"

"Alberta, this is the farthest we've ever gone," DImitri said. I realized that Alberta may have thought we'd gone farther. In truth we had, but that was when we were under the lust charm. I didn't want to be reminded of that right now.

"I distinctly remember Victor saying something at his trial about you two," Alberta said. She looked at me. It was true. Victor Dashkov, Lissa's uncle of sorts, had put the charm on us. If Dimitri hadn't removed the necklace when he had, it would have gone much farther. As it had been, I had been naked. And very close to taking his clothes off of him. Victors comments at court had shocked me. But Dimitri had managed to keep his guardian face on. The roles were reversed now. Dimitri was the one taken off guard. He had thought no one would believe Victor.

"That was a lust charm," I said.

"So you didn't really attack him, then. Dimitri, you should have told some one about that."

"Well, actually, she did attack me, just not the way every one assumed," DIMitri said. He was smiling now. I couldn't believe he was joking about this. Alberta just shook her head.

"Look," she said, "Even if this doesn't get spread around like wild fire, we will have to do something. Supervised trainings. And Janine will have to be notified." I felt my face go pale. I looked over to Dimitri, who wore a frightened look.

"You've killed six strigoi, and my mother scares you," I managed to ask.

"Roza, you get your tenacity from her," he said. I remembered then that I had killed two strigoi, and I was afraid of telling her, too. I would rather face the strigoi again. I think Dimitri had the same thoughts going thruogh his head.

"Can we please be scarce when you tell her?" I asked. This time Alberta cracked a smile.

"I can't promise she won't come to find you. In fact, it might be better if you are there so that she won't kill either of you in front of me."

"That doesn't mean she'll hunt us down separately," I mumbled.

"Yes, but we'll make sure she has calmed down before setting her loose."

"How are you going to contact her?" Dimitri asked. "You know she won't like being pulled from guardian duty."

"Actually, the Moroi she is guarding is coming here for a while. We will tell her then. Now, there's one more thing I want to talk to you about. Lissa."

"She didn't know. Not until today. She found out the same way as everyone else," I said, thinking that I was going to get Lissa in trouble because of this.

"That's not what I was talking about. Your relationship could put her in danger. I know both of you would do your best, but lets face it, you aren't fully dedicated to protecting her if you are worrying about each other. I am speaking mainly to you, Dimitri. I see how much you worry about her when just one little problem arises. Imagine facing three strigoi, and having to choose between her and the princess."

"I know you are right. that's why I was going to ask to be reassigned. I've been thinking this through for quite some time. I figured with the princess going to college and living at court, Rose would be there as well. I was going to ask to be reassigned there."

"well then, I guess its settled, then, isn't it. Truth be told, I think you two are perfect for each other."

"What?" DImitri and I said together. Alberta laughed.

"I wouldn't have let this go on if I didn't think it was a good thing. Rose, Dimitri makes you focus and control yourself. If you hadn't learn to do those two things, then you would not have improved the way you have since coming back. Many thought you wouldn't be able to take your trials in the spring. You could take them now and pass. Dimitri, I have seen you lighten up so much since she's come here. Don't give me that look. Losing your charge took its toll on you. You have been blaming yourself for it. With Rose around, you haven't been dwelling on that so much. And quite frankly, I think both of you improve each other when you fight. Think about it, you both know each others moves so well at this point. You have to come up with new moves to be able to beat each other. You make each other better guardians. I just wish I had been able to witness the fight today."

Suddenly, I felt pain rush through me. I screamed, not knowing what was happening or why I was in pain. Dimitri and Alberta looked at me with frightened and concerned looks. Then I was sucked out of my own body and into Lissa's. it wasn't my pain. It was hers. She was being tortured. It was Jesse Zeklos. And some of his royal friends. They seemed to be trying to get her to use comulsion by torturing her with their own elements.

"please stop," Lissa gasped.

"on't ask us to stop, tell us. Make us. Like you were making those others think that what they'd seen with you slutty friend and Belikov didn't really happen."

"I can't," Lissa said desperately. They started torturing her again. I took one look at the surroundings to find out where they were, and thenmanaged to get back into my own body.

"Rose, whats wrong? Whats happening?' DImitri asked. He was beside himself. Alberta wasn't doing much better, but atleast she was silent.

"I have to get to Lissa," was all I said before bolting out the door. I don't think Alberta and Dimitri responded immediately, because I didn't hear them running behind me. I didn't want to wait up for them. Lissa Needed help now. Suddenly, I felt the darkness in Lissa. The darkness never came on this suddenly. Especially not this strong. When I got to her, she wasn't being attacked. Instead, she was watching Jesse. Her face had the most horrifying smile on it. Jesse's face was contorted in fear. The others there just stood watching in confusion.

"Lissa, what are you doing? Whats going on?" I asked. I realized that she was doing that to Jesse. But what exactly was she doing?

"Spiders. He's seeing spiders. They saw me trying to compel any one who saw you and Dimitri today. Iw as trying to get them to forget it. It was working. Until Jesse saw me. They ambushed me. They wanted me to teach them what I knew."

"Lissa, please stop," I begged. This was going to destroy her later. The darkness was stronger than I had ever felt it.

"I can't. it won't go away. It won't let me release it."

"Give it to me, Liss. You know I can take it away. This isn't you, Liss," I pleaded. She turned towards me. Suddenly, the darkness in her went away. Jesse collapsed to the ground, conscious, but breathing hard. The other royals ran to him to see if he was okay. When I looked at jesse, I felt rage well up with in me. I wanted to kill him for hurting Lissa like that. without realizing it, I charged towards him. The royals who saw me charging were already running away. Only a few remained when I got there, and they had their backs to me. I pushed them down, kicking and punching, on my way to Jesse. When I reached him, my fist and feet connected with whatever part of his body they could find. My attack didn't last long. I found my self being pried away from him. Whoever had pulled me away was strong. They had a firm grip, but weren't hurting me.

"Get the princess to the clinic," I heard Dimitri's voice say near me. He was the one holding me. I realized he wasn't the only one here. Alberta, Jean, Yuri, and Stan were there too. Alberta was checking Lissa while the others were rounding up Jesse and his friends. I saw Lissa move towards Jesse. And heal him. I couldn't believe it. She was healing him when he had hurt her.

"Let me go, I am going to kill him," I growled. My voice was feral. Hardly recognizeable. "I am going to strangle the life out of that son of a bitch." every one was staring at me now. Alberta was giving me a frantic worried look. Dimitri tightened his grip on me some more.

"Dimitri, get her out of here. Clean her up," Alberta said. Dimitri pulled me away. I was still struggling, but, blinded by rage and darkness, my struggles were weaker than if I had been thinking clearly.

"Roza, stop struggling. They will be taken care of. Trust me."

"all they'll get is detention, or suspension. And suspension isn't even punishment," I growled, trying to pull away fro him. "You don't know what it felt like, you couldn't feel her fear and pain. I could. I could feel it.

"I know, Roza. And it kills me that you two had to feel that. I will make sure that they don't ever do that to you again, Roza," Dimitri said. I could hear the pain in his voice thinking about what I'd gone through. He brought me in to the cabin that Tasha had stayed in while she was here. He made me sit on the bed, but wouldn't let me go. "Rose, I need to clean you up. If you try to bolt, you know I will catch you."

"fine," I said. I relaxed, trying to fool him. It worked, until he saw me move to get up. "Let me go Dimitri," I said trying to push him away. The rage wouldn't go away.

"Rose, please stop. This isn't you. You aren't like this. Please," he begged. There was pain in his voice. He held me tight, night to restrain me now, but to try and calm me. Suddenly I realized what I must look like. A rage filled monster. It scared me, and I was shaking. Dimitri recognized the change imediately."

"What am I becoming?" I cried.

"Roza, its all right," Dimitri said softly.

"I'm going to be just like Anna. The darkness is going to drive me insane until I hurt someone or worse," I said.

"Listen to me Rose. You will never go insane. I won't let that happen to you. Neither will Lissa. You're strong. You can fight it. Especially with us by your side. We won't leave you."

"But what if I hurt you in the process?" I asked. Dimitri opened his mouth to respond, but before any words came out of his mouth, his cel phone rang. He sighed.

"Belikov," DImitri answered. He paused for a few moments. "Oh, Alberta. Yes, she has calmed down. I still don't think it's a good idea for her to be around the clinic though. And I don't want to test my own control either." there was another pause. Then Dimitris face went slightly red in embarssment. "Alberta, really. Was that comment necessary? I've been conrtolling myself for awhile now. I don't think one night will change that. And I'd rather not have to lie to her mother anymore than I already have to about how far we've gone," Dimitri replied. Alberta said something on the other end again. "Goodbye Alberta. I'll check in later.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Alberta seeing if you'd calmed down any. She was going to send help if you hadn't."

"I kind of figured that out, Comrade," I said. I felt normal again. Though still a little shaky. "But what about the rest of the conversation after that.

"Oh that," Dimitri said, his face going red again. "She told me to try not to make too much noise in here."

"What does that mean?" I asked. Before he could respond, I figured it out and blushed. That made Dimitri smile. "Are you sure we can't lie just a little more to my mom," I asked moving towards him.

"Roza, please do not tempt me. It's already hard enough for me to control myself around you. Any more contact than we've already have would ruin that control."

"You always have to be the saint, don't you comrade?"

"I am hardly a saint, Roza," he said as he moved in to kiss me. As our lips met, my mind went back to the fight. Me on top of him. Both of us breathing heavily and sweating. The look we'd given each other just before we kissed. Now, we were moving past the kiss. "we shouldn't do this, Roza. I told Alberta we wouldn't."

"I know," I responded, then went back to kissing him. He didn't stop me. Instead, he was pushing for more. I gladly obliged and our clothes ended up on the ground by the bed. Dimitri was amazing. He was gentle but I still felt more wonderful than I ever had. I was glad I had saved myself. I was glad to be losing my virginity to the man in bed with me now.

We stayed in the bed together afterwards. Both of us fell asleep. It was the best sleep I had ever had. Being in his arms was calming. And he was warm. I didn't want to wake up, but I did. And I felt nauseous. I sat up, trying not to disturb him. Something felt wrong. Then I saw Mason materialize in front of me. I instinctively covered myself up. Unfortunately, I had uncovered Dimitri in the felt the change in temperature.

"Roza, can you share the blankets please," he mumbled. I didn't respond. I was too busy staring at mason. I was tense, and Dimitri realized it once he woke up a little more. "Roza? Are you alright?"

"Do you see him?" I asked.

"see who, Rose?" he asked, worried now. He sat up, looking at the area I was looking in at the end of the bed. Mason looked different from the other times I had seen him. His face was sad, like usual,but now it held other emotions. He looked worried and scared.

"Mason, whats wrong?" I asked the ghost.

"Their here," he said almost inaudibly. It took me a moment to think of what he could possibly mean. then Dimitri's phone rang.

"Belikov. What? We're still in the cabin. Alberta? Damn it, her phone is dead. Rose, get dressed" DImitri said. His voice was frantic. There was only one thing that could do this to him.

"There are strigoi here, aren't there?" I asked. Mason nodded at the same time that Dimitri answered.

"Yes. I think they have Alberta. Her phone went dead right after she told me. If they are already to her," he said.

"Lissa and Christian!" I said. Normally I would only be concerned with Lissa, but Christain was my charge for the field experience. I quickly popped into Lissa's body. She and other Moroi students were being moved to the top floor of the dorms. Eddie was there with her. That was good. But her fear for Christain was strong. He wasn't there. He had been in the chapel. I went back into my body.

"Rose?"

"Lissa's fine. But Christain," I said.

"What about him?"

"He was in the Chapel earlier. He would be heading back to the dorms by now," I said. I started throwing my clothes on. Dimitri had done that while I was in Lissa's head.

"Rose, if he's out there," Dimitri said. He didn't need to finish. I knew what he was getting at.

"He was my charge for the field experience, Dimitri. I have to find him whether he's alive or not. I just hope he is. Lissa would be devastated," I said, heading towards the door. Dimitri grabbed me.

"Rose, you don't have to prove anything. This is real. This isn't the field practice anymore."

"I know that Dimitri. that's why I have to do this. Real or not, Christain is still my charge. Even if he wasn't, it would still be my responsibility to help him if he were in danger," I responded.

"Roza," Dimitri said, worry in his voice. I realized then that he was trying to stop me because he was afraid for me.

"Dimitri, we can't let our feelings get in the way of our duties. That was the reason we held off for so long."

"Take this," Dimitri said, pulling out a silver stake and handing it to me. It was engraved with some words in Russian

"What about you?" I asked. Dimitri pulled another stake out and showed it to me before putting it back in his duster.

"I was waiting to give you this stake for graduation. But you need it now. Please be careful. I would come with you, but I have to help the other guardians. Find Christain, and get yourselves to safety. The chapel. I will come to you when its safe," Dimitri said. We kissed each other, but this time, it was something different. There was more passion in it. We didn't know if we would see each other again. One of us could die tonight. Upon leaving the cabin, Dimitri scanned the area. I just let my shadow kissed power take over. Dimitri started to move, and I went to folllow him. Suudenly my nausea increased.

"DImitri," I said, but was grabbed from behind. I elbowed my attacker in the groin, hoping it was a male. It gave me enough time to pull out of his grasp. Dimitri was already coming at the strigoi, who had recovered. It was indeed a male. My nausea increased again as two more strigoi appeared. We were outnumbered. But many guardians had face this before. And Dimitri was one of the biggest bad assed guardians there was. And I was the best novice.

"Rose, get out of here," Dimitri whispered. One of the strigoi laughed.

"You can't possibly think she could out run us, do you? Even if she did, she would get ambushed by more of us," the first strigoi said. Dimitri growled.

"We can take them, Comrade. You're one of the best guardians out there. And you trianed me well. And there's no way in hell I am leaving you to these bastards," I said. The strigoi growled. One of them attacked, but Dimitri and I were too quick. We dodged the attack. The other two joined in, focusing on me for some reason. One of them almost got hold of me, but I ducked away from his arms and kicked his legs out from under him the way Dimitri had taught me. The strigoi fell. I immediately jumped on him and staked him while Dimitri distracted the other two. When I turned around, one of the was one the ground dead. The third was was oviously much older. He looked so ancient and was being affected by many of Dimitri's attacks. I joined in. Dimitri and I were a great team. We knew each others movves so well. If we hadn't been fighting for our lives with two bodies bleeding on the ground near us, one would have thought we were dancing. Finally, after ten minutes of fighting, the strigoi fumbled. Dimitri had feinted, and as the strigoi had dodged, he had still gotten hit by Dimitri's stake. Unfortunately, he had hit Dimitri, who had fallen to the ground. The strigoi went in for the kill, forgetting I was still a danger. I moved quickly, and managed to get my stake in the strigoi before he could respond. His eye's opened wide in sock, and he fell to the gound, dead.

"Damn," DImitri said as he tood up, "That was close."

"He almost had you," I said, the fear still in my voice.

"He almost got you first, Rose. You handled yourself well. Lets move before more come."

We ran, not running into more strigoi. But I could hear screams in coming from the some of the dorm buildings. Dimitri was warring with himself to go do his duty, or protect me. Part of me wanted him to do the latter, but only to keep him safe. Th other part wanted to follow my duty to keep moroi safe. The sight of Deridae on the ground, drained of blood, made up my mind. They came first. Apparently Dimitri had the same thought because he turned to me with fearful and sad eye's.

"Rose," he started. I didn't let him get any farther.

"I know, Dimitri. They come first. We have to do our duty. Just please, stay safe."

"You, too," he responded. I nodded and we kissed once more and parted ways. Dimitri ran towards the dorms, and I ran to find Christain. It didn't take long before the chapel was in my view. I couldn't feel the nausea, but I still kept an eye out. I saw something move in the bushes, and prepared to defend myself.

"whoa, Rose, don't hurt me," Christains voice came as he stepped out of the shadows. He saw the silver stake in my hand and his eyes widened. "somethings happening, isn't it. I heard screams, but I didn't know what it was."

"We're being attacked. Strigoi."

"What? How? They can't get through the wards."

"Christain, we have to get back to the chapel. We'll be safe there. And Dimitri is going to come get us as soon as its safe."

"Rose, I know you don't want to stay and wait. You are the best novice here. And I can use my magic. Think about it."

"I can't do that christain. It would be my fault if something happened to you and I can't have that on my conscience," I said then, out of nowhere, I got nauseous again. I turned and there were two strigoi. I blocked them from christian and staked one of them. The other lunged and caught be off guard, sending me flying into a tree, dazing me. He was about to attack me when he burst into flames. When the flames dissipated, all that was left was a pile of ash.

"Wow," I said.

"See? I can help."

"They are going to kill me for this. Just use small spurts of magic. Enough to distract them. We should head over to the elementary campus. Not as many trained guardians there. At least here we have novices. Over there they are pretty much defenseless."

"So we're going?"

"yep."

**So tell me what you think? Chapter too long? am i characterizing everyone okay? well, i guess that last question you can't quite answer until i get the characters in the new situations. but still, i would like feedback, please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. Didn't realize that this would be so popular. Glad you guys like it. I can't guarantee that all the updates will be so long, but I hope they are. and like I said, I am unsure of where this fic is going or how long i will be between updates. This is the last prewritten one I have. This is where it starts to change a bit. I hope I don't disappoint you guys with this fic.**

**Disclaimer: I own one copy of each of the books, my love for the series, my anticiapation for the next book to be released, and my passion for writing the fanfics. I do not, however, own Vampire Academy. It is purely Richelle Mead's.**

"What the hell is he doing here?" one of the guardians asked when Christian and I showed up at the elementary campus and started fighting. "He shouldn't be here. Its too dangerous."

"Moroi should have been fighting by Dhampirs sides from the beginning," Christian said. We didn't get to talk much after that. Christian and I went from guardian to guardian, turning the tables when it seemed as if one would fall. unfortunately, we couldn't save them all. I watched as Jean faltered, and a strigoi snapped her neck. The strigoi paused just long enough for me to start on him. He was strong but with christian shooting flames, he paused, staring at him, which gave me the opportunity to stake him. After an hour of fighting, we turned and didn't find a strigoi in sight.

"Where are they all?" I asked.

"Their gone. The sun is going to rise soon. And you two did a fair bit of damage. If it weren't for you, more would have died," Yuri said. He looked at Jeans body a ways away. There were more than just her, but she was the face I recognized the most. "We should get you two back to the high school campus. I am sure everyone's worried about you."

Yuri escorted us back to the high school. He had to go back as well to check in there. And there was safety in numbers, so I didn't arue. We couldn't take the chance of there being more out there. We looked at the grounds. There were bodies everywhere. Not all of them were strigoi. I found myself scanning the faces, praying that Dimitri's wasn't among them. There were Moroi there, too. I shuddered as thought of what could have become of Chistian. The my mind wandered to Lissa. I could still feel her, so I knew she was fine. She seemed to be felling happiness. I couldn't figure out hy, but then I realized, with the fight, she would feel obligated to heal those who were injured.

Upon entering the clinic, I saw Lissa's back to e. she was healing some one. But not just anyone. It was Dimitri. He looked up from talking to Lissa, and I saw fear leave his eyes. It was replaced by relief and joy. He ran over to me and tackled me in a huge hug.

"Roza, I was so worried. I looked in the chapel and ou and Christian weren't there. I assumed the worst," he said. I could hear the fear that hadn't completely faded from his voice.

"they came over to the elementary campus," Yuri explained. "Without them, more would have died over there. Half the kills made were from them."

"Alberta?" I asked, remembering the call. Dimitri looked amused.

"She was attacked, but she's tough. Sh ended up with a broken leg, a few broken ribs, and a slight concusion. But other than that, she's fine. They won't let her move, which is annoying her.

"Can't Lissa heal her?" I asked.

"Yeah, but she wants me to save my strength for the more critical cases. Eddie was hut pretty bad, Rose. The strigoi hit my dorm room. Eddie rushed in to protect me. He fought pretty wel, but it was so chaotic, eddie got confused for one second. He lost a lot of blood. I healed him, but he's still pretty out of it. They don't want to wake anyone who's unconsious too quickly, even if they are healed. They want to do it gradually so they don't lash out at the first person they find. A few of the nurses got hurt when they woke up guardians who had been fighting," Lissa said. I had expected her to rush towards me the way Dimitri had, but I could see she was tired. Healing was taking a lot out of her. I wanted her to stop, but I couldn't deny all the injured guardians and moroi that power. And I could tell Lissa couldn't either.

"Lissa. Why don't you go rest, you've been working hard. If we need you for some one critical, we'll call you," Dr. Olendzki said. Lissa nodded. "Rose, I just want to check you out. You have a history of getting injured and I know you don't always admit it."

"I'm fine," I said.

"Roza, just listen to her," Dimitri said. I groaned, but let her examine me. After five minutes, she deemed me uninjured. Well, beyond any cuts and bruises I had received. Christian went through the same inspection, and was deemed fine as well, although he too received a few cuts and bruises. Lissa, Christian, and I went into the lounge that was connected to the clinic. To my surprise, Dimitri joined as well. We all sat down together, Dimitri holding me. We were soon joined by Adrian, who looked exhausted as well.

"I don't know how you do it, Lissa. That healing is exhausting me," he said. I realized that he didn't smell of alcohol or cigarettes so much.

"Adrian, you should go get some sleep. You look awful and your aura is so dim and dark."

"I don't want to miss anything though. There's going to be more people brought in in an hour or so, once the sun is fully up. Hopfully we find soe of the missing. Alive."

"missing?" I asked. I knew there was a high possibility of people missing, but I still didn't want to hear it.

"not many people we know. Jean, your counselor, and Mrs. Carmack are all missing. Amongst others. I don't know the count exactly, but its a lot," Lissa said.

"Well, I know two of them are dead. I saw Jean get killed. Christian and I didn't make it to her in time. And Dierde I saw while Dimitri and I were heading to help."

"why didn't you two stay together?"

"I was needed to help out here," DImitri spoke up. "I didn't want to leave Rose, but I had to. And she had to find Christian."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," one of the Nurses said, poking her head into the lounge, "But Guardian Petrov had asked that any non guardians be cleared fro here so she can hold a meeting. Anyone who doesn't need medical attention is being moved to the cafeteria."

"I am going to stay in the clinic," Lissa said. The nurse nodded.

"Adrian may stay as well," the nurse said, then left. Dimitri and I gave each other one last look and and I left the lounge. I nearly hit Alberta with the door on my way out. She was in a wheelchair.

"Miss Hathaway, where do you think you are going?"

"the cafeteria. You said all non guardians had to leave."

"Well, even though you are still technically a novice, we need you here. From what I hear, you did a fair bit of damage."

"I couldn't have done it without Christian," I said.

"I know, but I don't think the others would like it so much if I put an underage moroi on guard duty for the school until we got reinforcements," Alberta said, smiling at me. Before I could let those words soak in, many of the school guardians filed in the room. Dimitri and I separated a bit, but we held hands inconspicuously. There were no other novices. It felt odd being the only one there.

"who is guarding the others?" I asked Dimitri. He shrugged. He was waiting for Alberta to start. I looked at each of the guardians in the room and while all of them had their guardian faces on, you could still see in their eyes the difficulty everyone was going through now.

"Well, since we are all here, now," Alberta said, "I would like to thank everyone here for the immense effort you have put in to clear the campus. There are still places we haven't cleared, though. And there are still others missing."

"Guardian Petrov," a an spoke up, "We lost a lot. We can't possibly keep searching and stay guarding."

"Which is why I called this meeting, David. I think we should use what we have. The senior Novices are close graduating. This could be good practice for them. Pair up one novice with one guardian."

"it's a good idea, but we still won't have enough," another guardian said.

"I have been informed that we are getting reinforcements. They will be here within a week," Alberta said. There were murmurs around the room.

"We could be attacked again within that time frame though."

"DO we even know how the wards were broken?"

"Please, everyone," Alberta said, trying to keep the room calm. It worked for the most part. "I do not know how the wards were broken. Yuri, you did the patrol, what did you find?"

"Nothing. There were no stakes in the ground, like there were where other mass attacks have occurred. The wards were refreshed two days ago. I honestly don't know. We tried to find the place of entrance, and it seemed to be in the northeast," Yuri said. That was where Lissa had been attacked by Jesse and his gang. They had all used their elements, all of them, to torture her. I raised y hand, as if I were in class, to get Alberta's attention. Dimitri looked at me with a questioning look.

"Rose, is there something you want to say?" Alberta asked. All eyes immediately went to me. No one had realized I was here. They had confused looks. I tried to ignore them and acted like I was talking only to her and Dimitri.

"You remember the attack on Lissa last night? Well, Jesse and his gang used all their elements on her. It was really close to the edge of campus. Near where I think Yuri thinks the breach happened," I said.

"Magic is used all the time in the school," David said, "Why is there a novice here?" he added.

"Rose is here because she is the best novice of her class. And while her ideas ay seem odd, I am sure she has some sort of reasoning behind it," Alberta said. There was silebce, and I realized they were waiting for my explanation.

"THink about it, stakes are all charmed with all the elements. They can break the wards. It could be the way the magic is used. Offensive magic against protective magic. And what those guys were doing was hardly peaceful or protective," I explained. The room started buzzing with thoughts.

"Good thinking Roza," DImitri said to me. "You have them thinking. They seem to be on board with your thought process." I was just happy the attention was off me again. For a while the guardians talked about the possibilities of my idea and what it could mean for the students who had caused it. Then the subject changed to the missing.

"Alberta, what is the count so far?" one of the elementary guardians asked.

"Its been hard to get a good count. Some are still showing up. Rose and Christian Ozera showed up about an hour or so before the meeting started. Right now I have heard twenty two students are missing or injured. We haven't found any dead yet, and I hope we don't. Ten Guardians are missing, fifteen dead. Twelve injured. For the Moroi, there are five missing, three dead, and eight injured. We aren't so worried about the injured, though, with miss Dragomir healing them."

"have you contacted the alchemists yet? There's no way we can burn all the bodies with out forest rangers noticing."

"not yet. I will be doing that shortly. Does anyone have any conerns they would like to bring up before we all go back to our duties?" Alberta said. A few people asked questions, some of them about me being there, and Alberta answered them. Once it was clear no one had anything to asked, Alberta dismissde everyone. "Rose and Dimitri, I would like to speak with you two alone."

"yes?" Dimitri asked when everyone had left.

"I just wanted to congratulate Rose on her idea. I never would have thought of that. Also, Rose will be working with you longer than the other novices will be working with the other guardians. I think Rose should get her promise marks sooner. She's proven herself enough. She would still go through the rest of the school year and graduate, but I spoke to a few of the guardian council over the phone before the meeting, and when I told them of everything you did during the attack, they agreed with me. We haven't set a date yet, but I want it tobe while your mother is here."

"Wow," was all I could say. Dimitri chuckled softly.

"and one more thing. Try to keep your relationship quiet still. A few of the guardians have noticed, but surprisingly, they don't object to it. But if kirova hears of it, then all of us are in trouble. So just keep the personal contact to a minimum in public. I have to go talk to a nurse. My ribs are starting to hurt again.

"Alberta, just let Lissa heal you/. She's getting can hadle the effects of it," I said. I didn't like seeing one of the strongest women I knew confined to a wheelchair.

"there are others who need the healing more, Rose."

"We are short enough on Guardians, aren't we?" I asked. The look on her face was funny. I had trapped her. She wanted others to be healed, but we were too short on guardians for her to not be healed.

"send her in," Alberta sighed. I went to go find Lissa. Naturally, she was at the other side of the clinic, healing some one who had just been brought in. It was stan. And he was bad. You could barely recognize him. Lissa healed him just enough for him to be stable.

"Alberta has finally consented for you to heal her. I talked her into it."

"How?" Lissa asked, following me.

"Reminded her how low we are on guardians who are capable of working. Novices are going to be put to work with the guardians. Everyone thinks it will be a good learning experience. I was the only novice in the meeting, though," I said. When we got back into the lounge, Alberta and Dimitri were talking about how to split up the novices. Lissa walked right over and healed Alberta.

"Thank you, Lissa."

"No problem. I should get back to the clinic. More people are coming in. some of them pretty bad. They almost deemed Guardian Alto dead. Only Adrian and I knew he wasn't. he still had his aura. He's stable now, but I couldn't heal him any ore than that. There are so many."

"Rose and I are going to join the search for a while. They need more people out there sooner than later."

"I a sure some of the Moroi wouldn't mind helping," Lissa said.

"No. Madame Kirova won't allow any of the students out right now, except for a few of the senior novices, and the teachers are trying to keep order and contact families to let them know what happened," Alberta said.

"What about my mom?" I asked.

"they only just started calling the parents. I am going to go find the senior Novices and assign them to a guardian. Rose, you already know who you are paired with. Just please behave, you two." we nodded, and then left the Clinic. Lissa went back to work, while Alberta headed to the cafeteria. Dimitri and I headed out into the daylight. The school was switching to a daytime schedule for the time being.

"So what happens now Dimitri? What about classes and everything?" I asked.

"I don't know, Rose. There is no precedent for this. We have it planned out just in case, but we can never fully anticipate the results. We were lucky here. Alberta said Stan warned her. He had run into one of them on his patrol. As for classes, if parents let students continue to go here, it will probably happen as soon as we can get everything back in order. After memorials and funerals, as well. There's a possibility that students could be transferred to other academies because of this. But that's a small one. We would have to transfer teachers and guardians as well, and that would be a bit complicated," DImitri explained. I was glad. There was a chance that I would e transferred to a different school than Lissa. And where Lissa went, Dimitri would be because he was Lissa's guardian for now. I started to think about the meeting and remembered something the guardian named David had said.

"DImitri, what an alchemist?" DImitri frowned.

"The are humans. Humans who know about the vampire world. They help with clean ups in cities, and have many contacts that can help our kind move through the human world inconspicuously. they think we're evil, though."

"Then why help us?" I asked.

"Because they want to keep our existence away from other humans. The lure to turn strigoi, for immortality, is strong for any humans once they find out. The alchemists think we are evil, but we are certainly much better than the strigoi, and they know that. A clean up of this magnitude, with all the strigoi bodies around, we need their help to get rid of them quickly. Once parents hear about this, they will be flocking in. we don't want them to see this," DImitri said. I agreed. We walk in silence before we arrived at a group of guardians. The turned and looked at us.

"Guardian Belikov, Miss Hathaway," the guardian named David greeted us.

"Guardian Bennes," Dimitri responded. "so what are we doing?"

"Alberta sent us a message telling us that novices would e showing up soon. So will the Alchemist. A few people heard about what was happening here and contacted one. They will be here in about fifteen minutes. Guardian Millard and Guardian Fliaan aren't looking forward to that. They been trying to swtich places with us. Actually, we need to send someone to escort the alchemist here," he said. His eye's focused on some thing behind us. "Here come the novices. Led by alberta herself. Wonder who convinced her to get healed."

"Rose," DImitri said. Davids eyes widened for a moment, but then he went back to normal.

"Guardian Petrov, I see you brought some help," David said. He looked at the group. There were about fifteen students. Not many, but any addition was welcomed as long as the person was willing. The novices in the group all had eager eyes. They wanted to learn what was going on.

"the Alchemist should be here soon. Has anyone gone for escort?" she asked.

"No. we were debating who would do it."

"Dimitri, why don't you and Rose go. Rose is going to need to learn how to deal with these people. They aren't the most pleasant," Alberta said. Apparently my personality would clash with the alchemists. Dimitri nodded, and we left the group.

"Are alchemists really that bad?"

"Well, they say some things sometimes. You tend to act before you think."

"Do not."

"Need I remind you about the night I caught you and Lissa? You were weak from blood loss and yet you still attacked me. Well, tried."

"that was different. You hadn't taught me self conrtol then."

"What about that day in stan's class where your mother was a guest speaker and you started insulting her method?"

"still different," I said.

"Roza, what am I going to do with you?" DImitri said, laughing a bit.

"I have an idea of what you can do with me," I said. My idea involved us, a bed in a private room, and no clothes. Dimitri apparently had the same thoughts.

"You know we can't do that again Rose," he responded. We arrived at the gates. The two guardians gave us questioning looks. "We are here to escort the alchemist when he arrives."

"should be about ten minutes," one of them said. "we just got texted a few minutes ago." before he could talk anymore, a black SUV with darkly tinited windows drove up. One of the doors opened suddenly and everyone, including myself, grabbed for our seilver stakes even though it was day time. My mother stepped out of the SUV.

"What is going on? Why does everyone look like they are about to attack? Rose? What are you doing in theis area of the campus? And who the hell got the brilliant idea to give you a stake?"

"One wuestion at a time mom, please. a lot has happened in the last day or so," I responded. Dimitri was letting me talk to my mom. The other two guardians were speak ing to the occupants of another car that had come up behind the SUV that my mother had arrived in. my mother looked at me and saw the cuts and bruises on me.

"Rose, you look like you've been fighting quite a bit. Care to explain?"

"The school was attacked by strigoi," I said. My mom stood there for a few moments, running what I said through her head. She looked like se was about to faint, and I saw Dimitri ready ready to steady her. Luckily, my mother caught herself.

"Why didn't anyone contact me?" she asked.

"they only just began contacting parents. And Rose was missing for a while. We are just starting the clean up. Rose and I came here to intercept the alchemist," Dimitri explained.

"Why Rose and not another guardian, though?"

"Well, we are short on Guardians until reinforcements arrive. We have enlisted a few of the novices for help. Rose was the first on Alberta's list." None of us said anymore because one of the guardians brought some one to us.

"Rose and Guardian Belikov will escort you to where the majority of the bodies are," he spoke to the person, who was obviously human. He turned to us next. "this is Sydney. She's the alchemist they sent to us. Alberta said that they are cleaning up near the Moroi dorms. Take the alchemist there."

"I'll join you," My mother said. We walked in silnce for a few minutes. Then my mother spoke again. "So tell me what happened. How did they get in?"

"The wards were broken," DImitri asked.

"Humans again? Like at the other mass attacks?"

"No."

"then how?" My mother asked.

"Fucking Jesse Zeklos and his gang of pathetic royals who think they are better than everyone else. I swear to god I m going to kill him," I growled.

"Roza, calm down," Dimitri said quietly. My mother appeared not to notice.

"How could a teenager break the wards? How did he get hold of stake?"

"Rose had a theory about that, and it's the only thing that makes sense."

"They had this cult. They were trying to learn to use compulsion. They thought they saw Lissa using it, and they wanted to watch her in action. Apparently the only way they knew to do that was attack her with their elements."

"How does that explain it?"

"They attacked her right by the wards. And the way the magic was used, it's the same as our silver stakes. Offensive magic. It goes against the wards magic, which is protective. And they had been doing this to others for a while, but no one would say anything because all those who went through it wanted to be part of it, other than Lissa. The wards were already weak. And Lissa's attack was the breaking point for the wards. No stake was required," DImitri explained.

"Has anyone else been told this theory?"

"Yes. Rose was in a meeting we had earlier today. When it was brought up, she mentioned her theory. No one else is able to some up with anything, and everyone seems to be on board with the idea."

"Does Alberta even realize that Rose is still just a novice," my mother asked.

"She wants me to get my promise mark early," I said.

"Rose did so much in the fight. Half the strigoi bodies on the elementary campus are there because of her.

"Christian helped me," I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. My mother's eye's went wide.

"Christian Ozera? As in a royal Moroi? Rose what the hell were you thinking letting him fight?"

"Hey, back off. He may be a royal Moroi, but let me tell you, fire boy will not hesitate to throw fire at anyone who annoys him. Trust me, I've seen it. And me keeping him from te fight to prove that Moroi should be fighting along guardians sides, well, that would annoy him. He would have done it anyway. It was better that I let him and just kept an eye on him," I said. My mother was about to argue, but Dimitri interrupted her.

"She's right. I am close friends with his aunt. He has and will use fire on you if you piss him off," Dimitri said.

"Are we almost there yet?" the alchemist, Sydney, said. She was clearly annoyed with having to listen to our chatter. As if on que, Alberta ran up to us.

"there you are. We were wondering what was taking so long. Guardian Hathaway, nice to see you. I'm sorry about the way you had to find out about the attack. Its been tough to keep up with everything."

"where is help needed?" my mother asked.

"everywhere. We only have so many guardians and senior novices who can help. Lissa and Adrian are trying to heal all they can, but it takes a lot out of them. Many times doctor Olendzki has had to drag them out of the clinic so they could rest."

"heal?" my mother asked.

"Lissa and Adrian specialized in a different element than the normal ones, mom. Its called spirit. Was still don't completely understand it, but they are working on learning more about it. And trying to find others who may have specialized in it. They want to know how to control the darkness that comes with it."

"Okay, as great as all this chatter is, I have places to be. So can we please get on with the cleanup?" Sydney snapped.

"Do you think you could show a little more compassion for the lives lost here?" I responded. "We've been through hell. There are people right now who don't know if their friends, family, or teachers are okay, and all you can do is snap at us."

"Roza, its okay, calm down," Dimitri said, grabbing my my to pull me back. I hadn't realized I was almost shouting at the girl, who looked a little frightened. Dimitri's touch calmed me. I took a deep breath, and sighed.

"I'm sorry," I said. I kind of was. I meant what I said about her showing some compassion, but I hadn't meant to yell at her and frieghten her. She nodded at me. Whether or not she accpeted my apology was unclear. My mother took a last glance at Dimitri and I. he was still holding my hand, but it wasn't restraining me anymore, and I easily pulled out of it.

Alberta sent Dimitri and I to the elementary campus. My mother decided to stay with Alberta. She said she had to talk to her about something. I assumed it had to do with my progress and getting my promise mark early. I was happy to have alone time with Dimitri as we walked. We were in the woods, where there had been no fighting. It was easy to pretend we were just a normal couple enjoying a nice walk together.

We got to the elementary campus and were immediately put to work. We had to move the strigoi bodies into a pile. I guessed Sydney would be coming here as well once she was done on the other campus. They kept me awy from most of the bodies, especially those of the Guardians, and some Moroi, that were there. Instead, they had me scouting around for stakes that had fallen. Dimitri told me that they would bury the marked stakes with the guardian who had weilded it. The others would be back ups for the school.

"Guardian Belikov, Rose," the guardian in charge said after two hours of us helping, "Alberta has asked requested that you two go to her office as soon as possible."

Dimitri and I exchanged confused glances. He had no clue what could be going on, and neither did I. we finished up what we were doing, and walked back. When we arrived at Alberta's office, my mother was there. And she wasn't looking too happy. Dimitri sensed it, too. Alberta looked like she was about to jump between my mother and Dimitri and I. This didn't seem good.

**So, tell me what you think. I know its a bit of an odd place to end the chapter, but this was the best spot, I think. and its a bit of a cliffy, which might torture you guys. Hey, I am not at all innocent. and rarely nice, lol.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ugh, so not my favorite chapter. I have been retyping this over and over, but I just can't seem to find anything i like for this, but I can't do the part I am anxiously waiting to write until i get all this and some of the next update written. in otherwords, mostly filler here. Mostly being the operative word, but still. filller can be annoying. again, apologize for the filler. and for the sheer amout of time it took to update. but hey, eight pages in micrsoft word procesor on each update so far. thats the most i have ever written for a fic. anyway, enough jabering. you probably aren't even reading this far.**

**Disclaimer: Do I own Vampire Academy? No. Do I wish I did? DUH!**

"Alberta, you called?" Dimitri said, breaking the silence. Alberta didn't answer. My mother did.

"What the hell have you been doing with my daughter?"

"Janine, please calm down. I assure you, it hasn't gone too far. I have been monitoring the situation myself," Alberta said.

"You shouldn't have let it go on!" my mother shouted.

"I know, Janine. But think about it. Look at how she's changed. in such a short time frame, too."

"She's too young for him," My mother said.

"seven years isn't that long," I said.

"Nothing can possibly come from your relationship. It will only endanger vasilisa, and you know it. I will not have my daughter hurt because of you, Belikov."

"Guardian Hathaway, I would never hurt Rose in any way. I thought about The princess, too. She was the reason I never acted on my feelings. I knew I would put Rose's safety above the princess. But I figured out a solution to that. If I were reassigned, we could be together."

"Janine, I know this is odd. But you haven't seen the changes in them. Both of them have changed for the better. Rose is more responsible. Some don't even think of her as a novice anymore, especially after all that has happened in the last twenty four hours," Alberta said. My mother still looked doubtful.

"Belikov, you better watch yourself around my daughter. One mistake, hurt her one time, and you'll wish a strigoi had gotten to you instead of me," my mother said.

"So is that a yes?" I asked.

"we still expect it to be kept a secret from the others. Not everyone is as open minded," Alberta said.

"So it is a yes" I said in a questioning tone.

"And I really don't want to see or hear about anything you two are doing," my mother said. Alberta agreed.

"I'm taking this all as a yes," I said. Dimitri laughed at me. Alberta smiled at me. My mother was scowling a bit. Dimitri and I left the room. I stopped to see if I could hear them say anything more. Dimitri did too. Apparently we both had sneaky traits.

"She seems happy, at least," I heard my mother say.

"They are Janine, that's why I couldn't stop this. Some of us deserve happiness. Why not them?" Alberta said. They must have thought we were out of hearing distance, because my mother said something that I doubt she would ever say around me. It shocked both me and Dimitri.

"I just wish they it could be more than the two of them. Not now, obviously, but when she's older," She said. Dimtiri and I looked at each other. Apparently she really did approve, she was just afraid that our relationship would get in the way of our duty.

"I don't know about that. I don't think the world could handle another Rose. And from what I heard, Dimitri wasn't the most calm child. But it would be nice if it were possible for them."

"I'm just worried about what will happen if one of them loses to the strigoi. Remember Damien?"

"Janine, I know you don't want to talk about him and neither do I. that was a long time ago. We've moved on. We should go back and help."

Dimitri and scrambled to leave before they saw us being nosy. I was still going through everything in my head. My mother actually approved of us. But she had a point, if one of us lost a fight, what would happen to the other? I looked at Dimitri walking beside me and determined that I could let that happen to either of us. One thing I was wondering about though, who was Damien?

"you hungry Rose?" DImitri asked. I was about to say no, but my stomach answered for me. Dimitri laughed. "Lets go get some food."

When we got to the cafeteria, Lissa, Christian, and Adrian were sitting togeter talking. Lissa and Adrian looked like they had lost a week of sleep, but other than that, they seemed fine. Lissa saw us approaching and waved us over. Dimitri told me to go over, he would get us something to eat.

"hey Liss, whats up?"

"Nothing. How is everything out there?"

"A mess. My mother is here. She almost fainted when she heard about what happened. And she nearly killed Dimitri and I."

"What? Why?" Christian asked.

"Long story," DImitri said behind me. He put a slice of pepperoni pizza down in front of me. My favourite food. The man knew me so well.

_Does she know about you two?_ Lissa asked through the bond. I nodded. _How did she find out? What did she say? Is she going to allow it? _I gave Lissa an annoyed look. _Later, then. We still haven't talked about everything._

"_Any more reported missing?" I asked._

"_Yeah, a lot. Jesse Zeklos and his whole gang are missing from the clinic and no one else has seen them," Lissa said. I could tell that while she hated them, she still didn't want them to be hurt. Lissa's ability to be kind never failed to amaze me._

"_My aunt is coming. I called her right after I left the clinic. She wants to help out here."_

"_we could use the help," Dimitri said. I kind of grumbled. I was still jealous of Tasha Ozera, even though I knew there was no reason to be at this point. She had tried to make moves on Dimitri, I hadn't handled that well. I was a bit rude to her a few times. She hadn't known about my feelings for Dimitri, and I doubt Dimitri had told her his feelings for me. Though I wondered what he'd told her when he declined her offer to be her guardian. And more. She would have gladly had Dhampir children._

_After we ate, we all parted ways. Adrian and Lissa went back to the clinic. Dimitri and I went back to help with the clean up, and Christian stayed in the cafeteria, though reluctantly. I felt bad for him. I knew if I were in his shoes, I probably would have punched some one out by now. He looked ready to set fire to the first thing that annoyed him._

"_Dimitri, are you sure there's nothing we can do to get Kirova to let some of the Moroi to help?"_

"_Why?"_

"_Look at Christian. I swear, if he doesn't get to do something soon, he's going to spontaneously combust. Or he's going to spontaneously combust some one else. And look at some of the others. They have the same look."_

"_you're right as usual, Roza. But I don't know what we can do. Moroi can't stay too long in the sun, you know that. Kirova is only thinking of their well being."_

"_I know, I know. But they can't just sit here and do nothing. If they could only help for a little while. A little goes a long way."_

"_I'll talk to Alberta about it. I think it's a good idea to get the Moroi involved," Dimitri said._

_The rest of the day was spent going one area of the campus to another. Dimitri and I mainly followed the Sydney around, much to her annoyance. Dimitri explained all the uses Alchemists had for Guardians. So long as we didn't piss them off too much. The other guardians gave Sydney a good amount of space. Whether out of habit, or not, I didn't know._

"_Sydney, have you had anything to eat today?" DImitri asked her at one point._

"_No. why?"_

"_You should eat something. Everyone else has."_

"_I don't think so. Thanks anyway," She said. Dimitri's ohine rang, and he answered it. After a short pause, he started speaking in Russian and I tuned out._

"_What is it with you?" Sydney asked._

"_what are you talking about?"_

"_You and that Russian guy. Dimitri. You seem a lot closer than the other guardians and the novices following them around."_

"_He's my mentor," I stated. I hoped she would buy it. If she didn't, that meant Dimitri and I seriously needed to work on our who keep the relationship secret thing._

"_Yeah, right. I am not an idiot. I can tell something is going on there. You like him. And judging by the way he looks at you, the feeling is mutual."_

"_Why do you care?" I snapped._

"_I don't really. Just trying to get a sense of his. I was always told Guardians didn't date one another. And that they couldn't have kids together. it's the reason you protect the Moroi, isn't it? With out them, your race ceases to exist."_

"_WHile Dhampir's do rely on Moroi to reproduce, we protect them because it's the right thing to do."_

"_what about the whole Guardians dating thing, though?" SYdney asked._

"_we really don't. I mean, in school we might, but once we graduate and are full time guardians, its all business. Well, mostly. There are two guardians I heard of who are getting married. The only problem with that is they are both leaving their moroi. Two moroi are being left unguarded. As if guardian numbers aren't low enough." I looked over to Dimitri, still talking on his phone. He was trying to calm who ever was on the other end now. I could tell by his voice._

"_What about you two?"_

"_We think we've found a way to still be guardians and have a relationship. But ours is a unique situation. I am allmost guaranteed to be assigned to a particular Moroi. He was going to to be assigned to her, too, but we can't both guard the same Moroi, so he's getting reassigned once I graduate."_

"_I don't see why not. You two seem to work so well together. You don't even need to talk to know where the other is going."_

"_If we were to be attacked, we wouldn't be worrying about Lissa. We would be worrying about each other. We have to be fully dedicated to the Moroi we are guarding."_

"_Oh. I guess that makes sense," Sydney said. I was surprised we were able to talk to each other this long with out snapping at each other. "He must really love his family. He's been talking to his mom for quite some time now. Apparently they heard about the attack and are reallly worried."_

"_how do you know who he's talking to?"_

"_I understand Russian. And a lot of other languages. Alchemists need to know many languages. I am still pretty new to this part, but I have been taught a lot of things through out my life to prepare me for this. It wasn't until I was sixteen that I learned about the vampire world. And that ay plans I had for my future were null."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_being an alchemist is a family thing. Its past through the generations. My older sister would have been the choice, but she doesn't have the mind or organization for it. I did. So my father chose me."_

"_How did you learn new languages so fast?"_

"_I didn't. I've been home schooled since I was little. Both my sister and I were. We learned other languages along with English."_

"_I wish I knew Russian. I keep trying to get him to teach me, but he won't. I tried to get him to teach me swear words once, but he old me no. said I already express myself too well in english. He didn't need me to do it in Russian, too."_

"_You do express yoursef too much, Rose," Dimitri said. I hadn't been aware that he was off the phone. But Sydney was even more startled. She hadn't noticed either._

"_think you could scare her anymore, Comrade?" I asked, looking at Sydney, who was catching her breath._

"_You guardians move like ghosts," she said, still a little out of breath._

"_That's something I have yet to master. I can never sneak up on him," I said. _

"_you can never catch me off guard, Rose. Others, though, you might. Its getting late. I am Sure Sydney needs to eat. So do you. And I know Lissa has been wanting to talk to you about what happened in the field practice."_

"_She's going to give me hell, you know."_

"_Lissa's your friend. She'll forgive you quickly enough. Do you mind escorting Sydney to the Madame Kirova's office? I will bring some food there. I doubt she wants to be around all the other Moroi and Dhampirs."_

"_Thankyou," Sydney said, sounding surprised. We started walking and I felt Sydney's tenseness fade slightly. "Wow. I was taught that your kind were pretty much uncivil. But he's really nice and you're, well, nice enough. I was told guardians are always fighting."_

"_That's not really the case. We only fight strigoi, and, on occasion each other. But the fights against each other are normally practice ones. We have to keep up our skills. Strigoi are strong and fast. With out the intense training that we go trough all our lives, we would be useless. My kills were sheer luck."_

"_You've killed them?" Sydney said in awe._

"_yeah. But it came with a cost. I lost one of my best friends. I should have died that day. Actually, I should have died a few times, I think."_

"_I take it you find trouble a lot?"_

"_I don't find trouble, trouble finds me," I said. Sydney laughed._

"_You know, if you weren't an unnatural creature of the night, we might actually be good friends." I smiled at her. Before I could say anything, though, we were interrupted._

"_Where are the guardians? We found where the strigoi are hiding," Ralf, one of Jesse's friends, said as he ran up to me._

"_What the hell were you thinking going after them?"_

"_we had to. No one else was going to. Where is everyone? We have to tell them. A few of the guys were caught."_

"_And that's why you shouldn't have gone," I nearly shouted. I turned to Sydney. "got a cell phone on you?"_

"_Yeah, here," she said. I grabbed the cell and quickly dialed a number._

"_Hello?" my mothers confused voice came._

"_Mom, I found one of the Moroi that have been missing. Apparently Jesse Zeklos' cult decided to go strigoi hunting on their own. They found where they are hiding, but some of them got caught in the process."_

"_Where are you?" _

"_On the way to Kirova's office with Sydney. I think Dimitri was on his way to the cafeteria to get her some food."_

"_Go to Alberta's office instead. I'll call her and Dimitri and tell them everything. Bring the Moroi you found. And any others that are with him."_

"_Got it. Thanks mom," I hung up the phone and handed it to Sydney. "Thanks. Ralf, who else is back?"_

"_none of them. I was the only one. They had me keep a look out. When the ones who went in started screaming, the others went in with them. I just ran"_

"_How many were there other than you and Jesse?"_

"_I don't know. Ten, maybe?"_

"_dammit. Come on. We have to get to Alberta's office."_

"_But I'll get into trouble."_

"_You'll get into trouble either way, Ralf. It was stupid to do something like that. And now your friends are probably going to die. And you are too cowardly to face any of the teachers about it. You will be going to Alberta's office with me, whether by force, or by choice. I suggest you make it the latter."_

"_I can't," he said. He looked like he was about to run, so I grabbed him._

"_I guess its force then."_

"_What about me?" Sydney asked. I had almost forgotten she was there._

"_Sorry, Sydney. Change of plans. My mom is getting Dimitri to go to Alberta's office, too. Hopefully he brings us some food."_

"_What about me? I think I need a feeder."_

"_Tough. Should have thought about that before going on an insane search mission. Come on."_

_We walked in silence. Sydney walked on the opposite side of me. Apparently she felt more at ease with me than she did with Ralf. Surpriising, considering she saw me lose my temper twice in one day. Once with her, and then this time with Ralf. Although she probably saw the logic in my last outburst. When we finally arrived, Alberta and my mother were already there._

"_Where are the others?" my mom asked._

_:This idiot here is the only one who came back, or so he says," I responded._

"_What about the others? How many were there, Ralf?"_

"_About ten. Some went in but some of us stayed look out. But when we heard the screams, the rest of those who were outside with me ran in to help. I ran back here to get help. So are we going to help them?"_

"_We aren't doing anything," DImitri's voice said behind me, causing everyone, including my mom and Alberta, to jump. _

"_He's right, Ralf. You are in huge trouble. Your friends could be dead. I can't believe you even thought to do this. Now we have to use more guardians, which we don't have enough of as I is, to go try and save your friends. Guardian Silva should be here soon. She will escort you where the rest of the students are. Dimitri and Janine, contact all the Guardians you can. Meeting in an hour. The Clinic lounge again," Alberta said. My mother left, but Dimitri stayed._

"_I'm here, sorry I'm late. You called?" Guardian Silva said._

"_Take this Moroi and get him to a feeder. Then watch his every move. Escort him everywhere," Alberta said. Guardian Silva looked at Ralf, who looked miserable. Ralf got up and followed Guardian Silva out of the room._

"_Rose, here's some food for you and Sydney. I'll see you at the meeting, I assume?" DImitri said as he handed Sydney an I a bag of food. He looked at Alberta, who nodded. Dimitri gave me a short kiss, then left._

"_Rose, I don't know if Sydney should go to the meeting. We might have to have some one else excorting her."_

"_unless she doesn't wasn't to, I think she should come. If we go on a rescue mission or those idiots, she's going to have to do some clean up there, isn't she?"_

"_Okay, but if she doesn't, I can have another Novice watch her. Edward Castile. He's finally conscious. And really eager to help. I'll see you in the clinic lounge in an hour. I have to go have a few things to do before the meeting."_

"_Okay," I said. Alberta left Sydney and I alone, ad we started eating. There were a few sandwiches, two apples, a couple of brownies, and two bottles of coke for Sydney and I._

"_I thought you were just a novice," SYdney said._

"_Yeah, I am."_

"_Then why does she treat you like an equal? I saw the difference between how she and the other guardians treat you, and how they treated the others you age. There's a huge difference."_

"_I don't know. I never really noticed. Might be the amount of catching I've done in such a short time."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I ran away from the school for two years. I took my best friend Lissa. Got hell for doing that. They wouldn't even have searched for me if I hadn't taken her. She's the last of the Dragomirs."_

"_The what?"_

"_One of the Royal Moroi families. Her parents and brother died ina car crash. Lissa and I were in the same car crash. She was in the safest spot in the car. She escaped relatively unharmed."_

"_What about you?"_

"_I got lucky. Everyone told me because of where I was in the car, I should have died."_

"_How did you survive, then?"_

"_Its complicated," I said, finishing off my sandwich. She had barely taken a bite out of hers. _

_Sydney and I sat in silence for a while. Then, about half an hour before the meeting, I suggested we start heading towards the lounge. She had decided to some with me after all. She threw away her half eaten meal, and followed me out. We made it to the lounge with fifteen minutes to spare. It would have been more, but she seemed interested in some of the architecture._

"_Hi Rose," some one said when I got there. It was Tashsa._

"_Hey Tasha. If you're looking for Christian, he's probably in the cafeteria with everyone else."_

"_And why aren't you?"_

"_Guardian Meeting. I was invited."_

"_Think they'd mind if I sit in on it? I want to get caught up. By the way, I heard what you did with my Nephew."_

"_I didn't want to put him in danger like that," I said, worried she was about to yell at me. She had yet to notice Sydney, and if she did, she didn't care. "I was just worried he would try it on his own. And set me on fire If I tried to stop him."_

"_I'm not mad at you, Rose. I am glad. Maybe now everyone will see reason. Moroi should be fighting along side our guardians. Well, those of us who have them. Do you think they'd let me sit in?"_

"_I don't know. Last itme they kicked everyone out of the lounge. Except me. But then again, it was just me, Lissa, Adrian, Christian, and Dimitri. But I'm sure Alberta wouldn't mind at this point. You have a right to hear whats going on."_

_We sat in the back of the lounge. After a few minutes, Dimitri and Alberta came in. they stopped short when they saw Tasha. She asked if she could stay. Alberta had no problem with it. Dimitri didn't seem to, either, but he did seem a little uncomfortable. Especially when he sat between me and Tasha. I wondered breifly what she'd say about our relationship, but before I could think of it too long, the meeting started, and my attention was on Alberta again._


	4. Chapter 4

**This one isn't quite as long as the others, only 3000 words as apposed to 5000, but still. its action packed. again, sorry about the delay in updating, but the first two chapters were prewritten. now I am just writing them as soon as i can. in all fariness, I did warn you, lol. and I am glad everyone is enjoying this. anyway, here's the next chappy. enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: Do we really have to go over this? I don't own this. Never will. however, I may, one day, have my own book that I can claim. Fanfiction isn't the only thing I write....**

"Alberta, what are we going to do about this? We can't just let them all die, but we don't have the resources for a rescue mission either. We'd lose far oo many guardians if we tried it," a guardian said when Alberta gave them all the update. Tasha looked like she was thinking hard. I wanted to make a joke with her about not oncentrating too hard or she'd accidentally set something on fire, but considering the situation, it would have been in bad taste, even for me. Then, I got an idea.

"Wait," I said, and just like the last meeting, everyone turned to me. "what if we got help from the Moroi. Christian and I did a fair bit of damage during the attack. A small fiery distraction is all it takes. The strigoi would panick and we'd have them."

"Absolutely not," Stan said. Tasha stood up then and began speaking.

"Why not? My nephew was not harmed in the process. I am proud of him. Think about what kind of damage we could do. I will gladly volunteer if no one else will. Hell, even if they do volunteer, I still want to come."

"You're a royal, you can't," Stan said in an attempt to talk her out of it. Naturally, it didn't work.

"If you don't let me ome, I will come anyway. Wouldn't it be better to know I am there, than to be surprised by it?" she threatened. Te others looked at eachother, knowing the truth of her words. If they knew she was there, they could keep an eye on her. If they didnn't, they could lose a royal.

"While I do not condone my daughter's behavior in allowing a Moroi, royal or not, fight by her side, I do believe this could work. She an Tasha are right. It would cause a lot more damage to the strigoi, and it would catch them off guard. But we should have more than one," my mother said. Every one around us mumbled. Alberta looke like she agreed with us, as did Dimitri. Guardian Bennes and a few others were slowly coming over to out side, too. But stan was steadfast in his thoughts.

"People, have you misplaced your minds? We don't know how many strigoi there still are, or even if they are still there or not. And if they are, what are the chances that the missing are still alive?"

"We have to try it. There can't be many more. And if there were, they've probably started fighting amongst themselves and killing each other. We all know strigoi don't work well together," a younger Guardian said.

"We thought they didn't work well together. But recent events have proven otherwise. Think about the two attacks on royal families. And then this one here. Things are changing, and quickly," Stan said.

"Every one has a point here. Everything we know is being challenged. We must adapt to the changes, Stan. And adapting may mean Moroi fighting with us," Alberta said.

"But if more Moroi die in the process," Stan argued, though I could tell he was about to give up the argument.

"We wouldn't let them. I am not saying physical combat, here. That would be far too dangerous, obviously. But as has been pointed out, a moroi using magic can distract the strigoi long enough so the guardian can get a lethal blow in quicker," Alberta said. I admired the way she sounded so positive that Moroi wouldn't be in anymore danger than they already were.

"that was because Ozera is a fire user. There are no other cases of any other element distracting them," Stan said. Every one mumbled in agreement. My thoughts went back to Spokane and Mia.

"There are," I said. Everyone turned back to me. Even Dimitri and Alberta were confused now. "In Spokane. Mia Rinaldi came back to try and help me after Mason fell," I said. My voice cracked a bit on Masons name. "she exploded a fish take, and controlled the water so it would wrap around his head. It was enough for me be able to stab him with some glass, taking him down for the moment so that I could focus on the other strigoi. If it hadn't been for Mia's help, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Rose, why didn't you tell any one about that," Dimitri mumbled to me when everyone went back into the discussion about a rescue mission.

"I didn't think it was important. And I try not to think about it too much," I responded. Dimitri sighed. He hated it when I was keeping things from him, no matter how miniscule the details seemed to me. My attention went back to Alberta, who called for a vote. Almost everyone was in favor of the rescue mission. Surprisingly, Stan was too. There were only five who were against it. They were much older guardians who were set in their ways. They agreed to help anyway.

"Get some sleep everyone. We need to be fresh for the mission," Alberta said, dismissing us.

"That was interesting," Sydney said as Dimitri and I led her to where she would be sleeping.

"Things are changin in the vampire world, and you are the first human to have actually witnessed something like that," DImitri told her. "Although you didn't say much."

"It wasn't my place to say anything. I was just there to watch. I hope you all know what you're doing."

"Actually, this is the first time anything like this has happened. At least to a school. There were a couple of mass attacks before that, but nothing on this scale. And those other attacks were aided by humans."

"Can't your kind easily take down a human," Sydney aid coldly. Dimitri appeared not to notice her attitude change.

"Yes, we can. But when those humans are staking our wards, we are caught off guard. Rarely is a guardian taken by surprise. But staking a ward is impossible by a strigoi because they can't touch our stakes. Therefore, we don't forsee that happening. Or we didn't. not until two attacks happened. Both were total shocks," DImitri said. His voice was still friendly, but I could hear the slight tone of darkness in it.

"Humans who help strigoi are the lowest of the low. They do it or the immortality. that's why we alchemists try to keep he general population from knowing. the draw to immortality for anyone is too great. Those humans who know about the strigoi are pure criminals. Or just stumbled upon them through luck, or in my view, lack there of," Sydney said. It was apparent that both she and Dimitri were trying to prove that their side couldn't be blamed for what was going on with the strigoi.

"DImitri, Rose," Alberta's voice came. We turned to her. Sydney sighed. She was getting impatient. All she wanted to do was sleep. "You two aren't going to be watching her tonight. S couple of the older guardians will be. You two need to get some sleep for the mission. Rose, your mother was against it, but I convinced her. You will be going in the cave with us. You, me, Dimitri, your mother, and a few others will be going in one side, and another group will be going in the other side. Tasha and Mrs. Carmack will be joining us. I will call you two when we start going over the plan."

"Thank you, Alberta," Dimitri said. One of the older guardians came up behind her and motioned to Sydney or her to follow him. She gave me a glance that I couldn't quite place the meaning of, and then followed him. When the were gone, Alberta turned back to us. "You know, it might be easier for me If I only had to make one call for the both of you," She said, giving a smile. At first I didn't catch her meaning. Dimitri did.

"would Janine be okay with that?" he asked.

"actually, truth be told, I want all guardians who are participating to be with another so I have to make less calls. A few other novices are going to be with u as well. But you two haven't realy slept any at all since this whole thing started. Every one else, for the most part, has. How you two slipped through the cracks with Kirova policing all the guardians and their breaks is beyond me."

"Wait a second, back up here. You are saying that you want Dimitri and I to be sleeping in the same room?"

"A bit slow today, aren't we, Rose?" Alberta said, laughing. Dimitri gave a chuckle, too. "Like I said, you two aren't the only ones who are sharing rooms for a couple of hours. Although, you are the only novice guarding pair. Actually, the only pair. The others will be in larger groups."

"Trying to raise suspicions much, Alberta?" DImitri asked.

"well, not really. Like I said, everyone else has had some sleep today. You two slipped through Kirova, though. Everyone else will be sleeping lass than you and talking more through the few hours we have before daylight."

"So we are going to be missing out on the planning?" I asked.

"Hardly. Most of the talking will be reassuring everyone that this will work. That the Moroi won't get hurt. Every one is worried about that. You two are the only ones who have confidence. When the real planning is about to begin, that's when you two will be woken up. Just please, behave. I will call you in a few hours. Oh, Rose, pick up some new clothes from your room. Those ones still have blood on them."

Alberta left us and we started walking back to the Dhampir dorms. When we stopped by my room, I went through my clothes hastily and picked out the most comfrotable training clothes I had. I also grabbed a pair of Pajama's so I could change out of the current clothes I had on. Dimitri watched patiently. I think he was enjoying the view a little too much of me bending over.

"Hey comrade, you're staring," said. Dimtri shook his head, trying to regain his focus. I laughed a bit.

"Got everything?" he asked. I nodded and we headed towards his room.

"Mind if I use your shower?" I asked.

"Mind if I joined you?"

"Of course not."

"If only we could, Roza. Don't want any of the guardians coming to find us and discovering we're in the shower together."

"Its not like they are coming immediately. We have a few hours to sleep. Or do something else," I said, trying to lead him towards my thought process.

"Please, Roza, don't tempt me. There is nothing I want more than you right now. But we do need the rest. Alberta's trusting our control here. Lets not test her limits, shall we?"

"Fine," I pouted.

"Another time, Roza, I promise," he said as I went into the bathroom with my pajamas.

I took a quick shower and changed. when I went back into his room, Dimitri was already asleep. Hemust've been hiding his exhaustion quite well. I put my dirty clothes in the bag I had brought with me. I stood watching Dimitri. He looked far more peaceful when he slept. I wished I had brought a camera. For a moment I debated whether I should get in the bed beside him, or find somewhere else to sleep. It wasn't a long debate. I slipped into the bed beside him, trying not to wake him up. I didn't realize how tired I was. As soon as I was under the covers, snuggled up to Dimitri, I drifted to sleep.

"Roza, wake up. Its time," I heard Dimitri's voice say five hours later.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled. Dimitri laughed.

"alright have it your way," He said. Suddenly, the covers were pulled off and I felt the colder air.

"Holy shit," I said, and rolled out of the bed in shock, falling to the floor. Dimitri, who was laughing a bit at my initial response, ran over to me on the floor. "Ow."

"should have woken up when I told you too," he said as he helped me up. His voice was slightly concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, comrade," I responded. I noted that he was already dressed and ready to go. Damn. I wanted to watch him change. "how long have you been up?"

"About fifteen minutes. Alberta's been filling me in. I decided to let you sleep some more. How did you sleep?"

"Best sleep I have ever had," I said smiling at him.

"me too. Come on. I really didn't want to answer Alberta's call. But I knew if I didn't, she would probably assume weren't behaving. Or she'd come get us. Or both. We need to leave soon. Its almost dawn."

I grabbed my clothes and changed in the bathroom. I tried inviting Dimitri in, but that didn't work. He said now was not the time for us to lose our conrtol. I agreed, though reluctantly. Hopefully we would have time for that later. Once I was dressed, we walked to the other side of the campus. Where the breach was assumed to have happened. When we got there, a few of those attending looked away from Alberta.

"I see we have a couple of late risers," Stan said. "That's not like you Dimitri.

"Rose was reluctant to wake up," DImitri said. My mother and Alberta gave us unbelieving looks. Tasha, being a bit to observant for my liking at the moment, looked at them, then back to me and Dimitri with a confused and thoughtful look.

"Don't worry, you two didn't miss much," Yuri said, trying to break the slightly awkward silence.

"What's the plan?" I asked

"there will be four groups total. Two on each side. One to go in on the offensive, the other to keep watch at the opening," Alberta said. "No novices will be going on the offensive." my mother coughed at that comment, and Alberta corrected herself. "Except Rose."

"Why does Rose get to have all the fun?" one of the novices who was there asked. I didn't recognize him. Yuri gave him a slight slap in the back of the head.

"Rose has the most experience out of any of you. She's seen more than most her age. And we needed one more for my side of the offensive. She was the top pick," Alberta said. Eddie, who I didn't notice at first, was giving me both envious and worried looks. After a few more clarifications on the attack, mainly telling me to follow orders no matter what happens to any one, we headed out.

It only took an hour to get to the first entrance of the cave. Half of us stopped and the rest traveled to the other entrance. Stan was leading the other offensive group. At the last moment, we realized the groups were un even, at least skill wise, and my mother joined Stan's group. She gave me one last glance and followed the group.

"Are you scared," Dimitri whispered to me while we were waiting for word from the other group that they had taken their positions.

"Would you think less of me if I said yes?"

"Of course not, Roza. Its natural. Honestly, I am a littled scared, too," Dimitri responded. I just stared at him for a moment.

"What could you be scared of? You've killed six strigoi."

"a lot, Roza. And need I remind you of how many strigoi you killed in one night?"

"You killed some too."

"Yes, I did. And the whole time I was afraid. Afraid of being taken away from you, being turned, or worse, you being taken away or turned. I couldn't handle that."

"I couldn't handle it if tat happened to you, either," I said. At that point, Alberta walked up to us.

"I hate to break you two up right now, but its time. The others have take their positions." Dimitri and I nodded and walked back to the group. Tasha was staring at us, but once alberta gave the word, she looked away. Dimitri and I gave each other one last, loving look, and charged with the others.

The strigoi were ready. And there were more than we had originally thought. I silently swore to myself. This rescue mission had been partially my idea. But I didn't let that distract me. Dimitri and I fought flawlessly by each other's side, protecting each other from the multiple strigoi. The other guardians were having a bit harder of a time. Tasha was making all the difference in the fight. Her well controlled power was coming in handy. Once the strigoi were aware of her, we had to regroup around her. It was tough, considering that we had to make sure her view wasn't obstructed much. The others didn't realize it until I shouted it.

The fight was lasting much longer than we thought it would. At some point, a wall caved in, blocking us from the other side. There was only a small hole that some one could crawl though, though it would leave the person in a very vulnerable position. Tasha, even though she was using the smallest amount o magic she could, was getting tired. I wasn't aware of how many of the captives we'd rescued. Unfortunately, we were too late for some. Two of them, both from Jesse's groups of nitwits, were already dead. The others I was pretty sure we had gotten out. Then I saw him.

"Hello Rose," Jesse said, coming after me. His eyes were red. I didn't hesitate to attack him. Neither did Dimitri. Oth of us staked him, my from the front, Dimitri from the back. His eyes widened in shock, and he fell to the ground, dead.

"The other side is done. They are safe. We got every one we could save. Retreat," Alberta's voice came. But it wasn't that easy. A few of us turned, while the others continued fighting the few strigoi that were left cornered by the blockade. There were twenty more rushing towards us there.

"Alberta," I said as she finished off the strigoi she was fighting. She turned ad her eyes widened. We were cornered and outnumbered. Alberta said something into the communication device before we started fighting our way through. Guardian Bennes fell to one of the strigoi, who then came after me. I finished him off easily and turned to help Dimitri and Alberta, who were trying like hell to keep a group of five strigoi away from Tasha. Then, the numbers turned. My mother, Stan, and Yuri were beside us fighting. We were still outnumbered, but we had more of a chance now.

"Rose, at the first chance, you need to run," My mother said as she staked a strigoi.

"my first chance will be everyone's chance," I responded.

"Belikov, if you see a chance to retreat, do it, and grab Rose," My mother said. She knew I wouldn't leave without him.

There never was a chance for us to retreat. Not until we finished off the last of the strigoi. We stood there, most of us breathing heavily, for a moment before Alberta ordered us to moved. Three guardians from the elementary campus led the way. I was in the middle with Tasha, Alberta, and three other guardians. My mom, Yuri, Dimitri, and two other were in the back.

When we saw the the light ahead, the two in front increased their speed. Suddenly, nausea hit me. Hard. I turned, and managed to surprise a strigoi who was aiming for Tasha. Three others came out of nowhere, but because we were ready, they didn't last long. Alberta gave me a shocked look because of my instant action. The three guardians in front were safe in the sunlight, and my group sped up. I still felt nauseous, but it didn't hit me hard until I was already in the light. My mother was out as well, but Dimitri, Stan and Yuri had fallen behind her. I turned around to call out a warning, but it was too late. The three of them were up against eight strigoi.

Yuri fell. I dashed into help stan and, more importantly, Dimitri. My mother almost made a grab for me, but I couldn't tell if she missed because I was too fast, or because she thought better of it. I heard two pairs of feet running behind me as I charged, but I didn't care who they were. All that mattered was that they were not strigoi, and that Dimitri was in danger. I managed to stake a blonde strigoi that nearly had Dimitri, but in the process, something hit me in the ribs. Hard. I flew back into the wall of the cave, hitting my head. my vision swam before me. I tried to find out if Dimitri was still fighting, but before my eyes focused, I blacked out.

**SO who really wants to kill me for that cliffy? yeah, I know, all of you do. admit it, those of you who write know how fun cliffies are.. well, for the writer, not so much the readers. it just tortures them. well, despite the cliffy, i hope you enjoyed the update. review if you see it fit. I love feed back. and reviews so far have been awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Another short one. sorry. everytime i try writing, i fall asleep at the laptop. one i time i woke up to three pages of the letter k. and ended up late to work, too. anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope the end isn't as bad as i think it is. anyway, i have to take some time and figure out where this is going to go after this. any suggestions would be welcome.**

**DISCLAIMER: not mine. never will be.**

"Dimka?" I heard Tasha's voice say quietly. "Any change?"

"No. I thought she was going to wake up a few minutes ago, but she hasn't yet," DImitri whispered. I could hear the worry in his voice. "Lissa healed her. Why isn't she waking up?" I wanted to respond to him, but I couldn't. I felt like my body was weighted down. I couldn't even open my eyes.

"You know they gave her some pretty heavy medications. She'll be fine." well, the medication explained my current state at least.

"Its been a day and a half and she still hasn't woken up, Tasha. I am going out of my mind."

"You need to leave the clinic for a bit, Dimka. She'll understand."

"I can't leave her Tasha."

"At least get something to eat. You haven't been to the cafeteria at all. I've had Christian, Adrian, Eddie, and Lissa keeping an eye out for you."

"Alberta's been bringing me food."

"Rose is the reason, isn't she?"

"What?"

"The reason you didn't take my offer. I should have known. The way she acted around me sometimes."

"Are you mad?"

"Of course not, Dimka. A little disappointed that you didn't tell me, but I understand why you didn't. it took alberta a bit of convincing with a few of the guardians. Although quite a few seemed to not care. And some of them didn't even seemed surprised."

"I hould have figured the others would have figured it out."

"Especially after the rescue. She didn't even pay any mind to her own safety. And then you wouldn't even let any one else carry her, despite your injuries."

"I felt like if I let her go, I would never see her again. I was so scared. More scared than I have ever been. I can't believe her mother and alberta didn't try to stop her running in."

"I can't believe her mother knows about you two and you are still alive. Janine Hathaway isn't the kind of person to take this lightly."

"I think the only thing that kept her from killing us was Alberta. And the changes that Rose has been through since her return. I never should have allowed her to come."

"You know she would have anyway. She would have found a way. She has the Hathaway dedication and perseverance."

"I know. But maybe if she had been with the other novices," DImitri started.

"She would have still run in after you, and you know it. Stop your feeling Guilty. It won't help her. I have to go. The queen is coming to honor the fallen. I want to speak to her about what happened. How Christian and I made a difference in the battles. The Ozera name may be scarred, but hopefully she will listen. See you later Dimka," Tasha said the left. I tried moving again, but when I did, my head throbbed, and I groaned.

"Roza?" Dimitri said, his voice hopeful. I tried to respond, but all that came out was a mumble. Dimitri sighed. I tried to talk again.

"What the hell happened?" I asked. I still hadn't opened my eyes, but I didn't want to now that I had the headache.

"You suffered some pretty bad injuries. Lissa healed you, but they still wanted to medicate you just in case she was unable to do a full heal. Why do you still have your eyes closed?"

"My head is killing me, and I really don't want to open them to any kind of bright light. Like daylight."

"Its night time. And Tasha turned the lights in the room off whe she left. The only light on is the one on the table beside you. And that's only so I could read." I opened my eyes, and sure enough, the room was pretty dark. I had no problem seeing with my enhanced vision, but it didn't hurt my head. I looked at Dimitri. His eyes showed relief.

"So what happened exectly?" I asked.

"After you were thrown against the wall, I ran over to you. Your mom and Alberta had followed you int. Tasha ran back in to help and lit up a few strigoi once she realized what had happened to you. It evened out the numbers. You had a major concussion. You had some broken ibs. One of them punctured your lung. You probably had some major internal bleeding, too. Lissa was waiting as soon as we got back. She healed you on the spot. You shouldn't have come in after me."

"I had to. I couldn't lose you. And admit it, you would have done the same for me."

"you're right. Your mom has been really worried. And every one else too, actually. Alberta says your mom isn't handling this quite so well, though. There isn't enough for her to do around here and she's going mad. And driving everyone else insane, too. She told me to call when you woke up. I should proabably do that before she destroys something. One prupose or on accident."

"No. I want some time alone with you," I said.

"Nt right now, Roza. Especially not where everyone can catch us," Dimitri said.

"I wasn't thinking that, but if that's what you want, I will gladly agree," I said, smiling. I really hadn't been thinking about sex. I just wanted to have him near me and not have to pretend we were just teacher and student. We wouldn't have to do that around my mother, but it would still be a bit awkward. For all of us.

"Roza, what am I going to do with you," He said. I tried to sit up, but he shook his head and pushed me back down. "The meds are probably still messing with your head," He said, and leaned down to kiss me. He knew me too well. That was the reason I had tried to sit up. We were interrupted by some one clearing their throat.

"I see you're awake, Rose," Alberta said from the doorway. "How long Dimitri?"

"About ten minutes or so," He responded.

"have you told Janine yet?"

"I was about to, but Rose didn't want to yet."

"DImitri, I can't let her keep going like this. She's patrolled the campus five times looking for trouble. Detention is going to need three rooms if she keeps it up. She's tried alphabetising Madame Kirova's files. That didn't go over well. If she weren't one of the best guardians and weren't in the situation she were in, I think Madame Kirova would have kicked her out of the campus. As it is, she has been restricted to certain areas of the school. That isn't helping her much."

"I'm surprised she hasn't come in for the last couple of hours," DImitri said.

"actually, that restriction was put in by me. Seeing Rose like that was not helping her."

"Then why did you let me stay?"

"Because you were just the opposite. You wouldn't come out of your room at all for the first few hours. I figured you'd do a bit better if you were here to keep an eye on her. And it helps Janine to know that some one else is here."

"Can we just have a little more time?" I asked. Alberta gave me a look that said she thought I wanted more than just time alone with him.

"I will go find her instead of call her. But be warned, you two, the moment I find her she will be running here, so behave," She said, then left the room.

"Did you have any injuries?"

"Not as bad as you. One of strigoi almost bit into me, but Tasha lit him up. I ended up with a burn or two from that, but its better than the alternative."

"what about my mom and Alberta?"

"Alberta ended up with a broken arm. Adrian managed to heal that. Your mom came out with only cuts and bruises. We were able to keep the strigoi away from Tasha so the only injuries she had were from the main fighting," DImitri explained. Before I could respond, my mother burst in. and tackled me.

"mom, please let me breath," I choked out. She pulled away.

"I'll leave you two alone," Dimitri said. I gave him apleading look. "I'll be right outside, Rose. Don't worry."

"Rose, You have no idea how worried I've been," My mother said when Dimitri left the room.

"well, considering some of the things Alberta said, I think I do. Why did you and Alberta follow me in anyway?"

"I couldn't let you get hurt. But I knew you wouldn't have gotten through losing Dimitri well, either," She said. I sensed something more in her voice.

"What aren't you telling me?" I asked.

"Its nothing. Just something I went through when I was close to your age. A little older, actually. But not by much."

"What happened?"

"I was with my Moroi at the time. She was with a few friends. One of the guys from the school I went to was another guardian there. His name was Damien. Damien Petrov."

"Petrov? Is he related to Alberta?"

"Yes. Her younger brother. By ten years. They were more like two best friends than brother or sister. Damien and I were in a relationship. Alberta knew about it, but she was one of only three people. That night, we ran into four strigoi. We both easily took down one each, but the other two were ancient. I manage to take mine down, but Damien was losing his fight. I didn't make it to him in time. The strigoi snapped his neck.

"I was so filled with emotion, that I didn't think. I just acted. Somehow, I took him down. But losing Damien left its mark. I took a couple of years off from being a guardian. It was after I had you that I decided to go back. Seeing you go after Dimitiri brought me back to that night. I couldn't let you feel that pain," My mother said. I looked at her in shock. Her eyes were distant, and they held sadness. This was the first time I had ever seen her mask fall. she sighed, and turned away from the window she was staring out. "I'll go send Dimitri back in. I just wanted to see that you were okay. You know, of all the men you could have chosen, I am glad it was him. He's a good man. And a damn good guardian."

"I know," I said. She gave me a kiss on the forehead then left the room. Dimitri came back in immediately.

"So did you two have a good talk?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. She really does care about you, despite what you think."

"I know," I responded. "And now I know why she ad alberta ran in to help me save you."

"really? There was a reason other than the fact that you are her daughter?"

"Yeah. She lost the guy she was in love with to strigoi. He was a guardian, too. And she had been there," I said. "I don't think anyone should know about that though."

"I agree. I am surprised she told you about something like that. Your mother isn't the type to let that get out."

"What caught me though, was she stopped being a guardian for a while. Until she had me. I can't help but wonder if maybe he could have been my father. And if he is, that mean two Dhampirs do have the potential to have a family together," I said.

"Rose, you're not thinking what I think you are, are you?"

"Why? Are you saying you wouldn't want to have a family with me?" I asked, hurt.

"Of course I do, Roza. I wish it were possible. Nothing would make me happier," He said. At that point, Doctor Olendzki came in.

"Finally awake, I see," she said. She walked over to me and shined a light in my eyes. "How do you feel?"

"RIght now, you just increased the damn headache I had," I responded.

"I see your attitude is in full swing. The headache is a side effect of the medications we gave you. You had quite a few injuries."

"So I've been told multiple times."

"You should be happy you have a friend like Lissa. If it weren't for her, you would be dead right now." I saw Dimitri flinch.

"I should have died more than once," I mumbled. Doctor Olendzki didn't respond, but Dimitri gave me a questioning look.

"Well, you're fine. You can go back to your room and sleep there. If you can after all that sleep you just had. We're still on a daylight schedule. Dimitri, please escort her to her room. We don't want her wandering off."

Dimitri nodded, and handed me some clean clothes. As soon as I changed, we went outside. It was completely clear out and he starts were shining brightly. We walked in a comfortable silence, holding hands. I wished our life could be like this all the time. Then, I realized we weren't heading to the Dhampir dorms.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see. Don't worry, you won't get in trouble. Alberta okayed this," he said. I really hate it when people keep stuff from me, but I didn't push it. Dimitri was just as stubborn as I was. I figured it out when we entered the moroi dorms.

"We're going to see Lissa, aren't we?" I asked. He smiled and nodded. We went into Lissa's room, and she nearly tackled me in a hug.

"I was so worried," she said.

"Lissa, you are going to kill me if you don't let me go."

"Sorry. Its just, the last I saw you, you were unconscious and you looked so lifeless and beaten. I thought you were dead," she said.

"But you healed me. You should have known I was okay," I said. Lisa looked away from me, and I sensed something through the bond. "What happened?"

"There was quite a bit to heal on you. And I had healed a lot already. I passed out healing you."

"that explains why Olendzki wanted to check me over. You shouldn't have done that, Liss."

"I had to. It just reminded me so much of the accident," she said. Then it clicked. In that case, she'd passed out, too. "You would have died if I hadn't healed you."

"How bad was I?"

"everyone thought you were dead," DImitri said. "We didn't feel a pulse. And it seemed like you weren't breathing. Am I missing something?"

"Lissa, you really shouldn't have done that. You remember what happened the last tim you brouht me back?"

"What are you talking about Rose? She healed you. We had to have been mistaken. Just like with the accident, you were alive enough for her to heal you."

"Dimitri, I died in the accident. Lissa brought me back to life," I said. I was greatful for being alive, and being with Dimitri, but I didn't want Lissa to go through the same things she went through last time."

"I'm fine, Rose. I don't feel depressed at all. And if I do, you will sense it."

"I know, Liss. But I hate it when you get that way. It worries me. I'm afraid that someday, I might not be able to help you," I said. I was admitting to being scared a lot it seemed.

"Not to mention what the darkness does to Rose," Dimitri said. As much as I loved him, I really wish he hadn't said that. I could now feel Lissa's guilt over that.

"DImitri, I am fine with that part," I said, glaring at him. Apparently, for once, my glare had an effect on him.

"Sorry. You two should talk alone. I'll see you tomorrow Rose. Have fun," He said, and left. I really didn't want him to leave, but he was right. Lissa and I had a lot to talk about.

"So, how far have you two gone?" Lissa asked.

"Far enough," I responded. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she knew what I meant, and answered the question already forming in her head. Sometimes, that bond saved some time in conversation. "One of the old guardian cabins. Just before the attack."

"o how long have you two had feelings for each other?" she asked next.

"a while. We just never acted on them. Maybe we should have, after what happened during the field experience," I said. That felt like it was years ago, now.

"I guess it's a good thing both of you are going to be my guardians. You won't ever have to be apart."

"Actually, Lissa, that was the reason we didn't act on our feelings sooner. We didn't want to be distracted from you because of our feelings."

"Oh, I'm sorry Rose," She said. I felt the guilt in the bond again.

"Its okay, Lissa. That wasn't the only reason. And we worked out that issue. He's going to be reassigned to the court. The only thing I am worried about now is getting you another guardian I can get along with. One who won't have a problem with the relationship. And one who is good."

"Finding some one who can get along with you might be a bit difficult, Rose," Lissa said. We both laughed at that. "I am still surprised your mom is okay with this."

"yeah, me too. Actually, not a lot of people are really against it. Just worried about what it will do to our jobs. I think they are worried about us leaving our duties as guardians to be together."

"But they shouln't be. Dimitri is one of the best guardians. And you are always fighting to be my guardian."

"I know. And I think once they start to really think about it, they realize that. By the way, how many people did you manage to compel before Zeklos got to you?"

"Enough. I doubt it'll get out, especially after all that has happened." I felt guilty for being relieved that something else had distracted the whole campus so soon after what had happened. Lissa noticed my silence, and tried to break it. "so what are you wearing to the ceremony tomorrow?"

"What ceremony?" I asked confused.

"Oh, there's going to be a ceremony tomorrow. The queen should be arriving within a few hours. She's honoring all the fallen guardians and Moroi. And everyone who fought in the battle will be getting some kind of mark on them. Its semi formal. I think the dress you wore at the dance will be good."

"the one from the night Victor kidnapped you? I don't' know, Liss."

"well, why not?"

"well, first off, it's a bit revealing," I said.

"That's never bothered you before."

"IF the queen is going to be there, I think I better be on good behavior for once need I remind you, she hates me. I don't need anything else goin against me. She can influence the council to assign you different guardians."

"I can always refuse guardians unless you are one of them," Lissa said. I flinched at that thought. Lissa needed a guardian. Being the last Dragomir had her at the top of the strigoi royal hit list. Any strigoi who wanted to rise up high in the ranks would probably be hunting her.

"I'll see what Dimitri thinks I should wear," I said. Lissa yawned, and I realized how late it was. Surprisinlgy, I was tired too. "You should get some sleep. No doubt the queen is going to have you by her side at all times tomorrow."

"what about you?"

"I think I will get some non drug induced sleep," I said, getting on the spare bed in Lissa's room. They had never given her another roommate after everything that occurred with Natalie.

"Goodnight rose," she said, huddling under the covers.

"Night, Liss," I said, laying down. I fell asleep almost instantly.

**So, tell me what you think. and where should i take this story? I am fighting with myself whether Rose should get pregnant or not. not now, obviously, but later on in the fic. I mean, i have ideas for how it might be possible with Dimitri, though unlikely.. what do you all think?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry about the really long wait you guys. I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to get past this part. I have so many ideas in my head for this, some of them provided by all my lovely reviewers. I thank you all for the ideas. Now i just have to sort through them and figure out where to put these ideas. they might now how up in thi fic, but I have a few other fics in the works as well which I started to try and write out my writers block on this fic.. ended up getting writers block on those fics, too, though. lol.**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own VA or its characters. I wouldn't mind some time alone with the russian god, though"**

"Rose, Lissa. If you two don't wake up now, I am going to break down the door," Dimitri said outside Lissa's room. Lissa grumbled something incoherent and tuned him out. I took a slightly more dramatic act and threw something at the door. "Fine, you asked for it."

I heard him walk away from the door. At first I thought he had given up. I rolled over, pulling the covers tighter over me. Then, I heard the door open and close. Of course Dimitri would have a key. He pulled the covers off of me, which didn't surprise me this time. What did surprise me, was the cold water that came down on me.

"Dimitri, what the hell?" I shouted. Lissa jumped out of bed, not knowing what had happened. Dimitri was staring at me. I had been in a white shirt when I fell asleep. And I had a black bra on. "You're drooling comrade," I said bitterly. Dimitri put his normal guardian face back on.

"Sorry. But the queen is here. You and I, along with a few others, are going to be escorting her."

"Well damn, I have to be around queen bitch?" I asked. Dimitri sighed.

"Only for a while. She won't be here more than a day."

"Why'd you wake me up then?" Lissa asked.

"Technically Rose woke you up," DImitri said. I gave him a glare, and he continued. "But the queen wants you by her side, as well. Which is why Rose and I will be there. Otherwise, all three of us would be sleeping in."

"Whatever queen bitch wants, she gets," I mumbled. "What should I wear?"

"not your normal clothes."

"Dimitri, that's all I have. Lissa, don't even mention the dress."

"A dress isn't something a guardian would wear anyway. We want the queen to see that you are a good choice to be Lissa's guardian. I am sure we can find something. Lissa, we'll meet you in the Moroi commons in half an hour," Dimitri said. I followed him out of the room after saying goodbye to Lissa.

"Do I really have to go see this woman?" I asked. I really hate every moment with the queen I got.

"Rose, you are going to have to be near her once you graduate. Lissa's top on her list to be the next ruler," DImitri said. I stopped in in my tracks, and so did Dimitri. He swore in russian. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"Lissa's going to be the next queen?"

"right now, it looks like it. But she could change her mind. But if she doesn't, she will be training Lissa when she graduates. That means you will be near her much of the time."

"How do you know this?"

"Guardian secrets," He said, smiling at me. I gave him what I hoped was an intimidating glare. He just smiled more. "lets go find you something to wear."

Ten minutes later, we were in my room. I was pulling out various outfits, and dimitri was turning them down. Many o them I understood why. They were from when Lissa and I had been out of the academy. They were all from the good will. I had no problem with them, but they were certainly not something you would wear to mee the queen, even if you were just supposed to stand back and be invisible. I heard Dimitri swear in Russian again. I really wish I knew what he said.

"Rose, tell me you have more than just this?"

"Sorry comrade. I don't I guess its just jeans for me, huh."

"well, I was hoping we could get her to like you a bit more."

"Not going to happen, comrade. The woman hates me."

"Just try not to cause a commotion, okay?"

"DImtri, I don't cause commotions, I am one."

"That's for sure," he mumbled. He picked up a pair of jeans and a maroon shirt that wasn't too revealing and handed them to me. "This is the best we can do. Get dressed. Lissa's probably waiting already."

"want to watch me change?" I asked mischievously. Dimitri sighed.

"Must you always tempt me?" I could see in his eyes that there was nothing more he wanted to do right now than watch, and probably help me undress. The only trouble was, I probably wouldn't be getting dressed very soon after that.

"tempting you is my job."

"Not today," he said. "I would rather stay on good terms with the queen. unlike you. Being late would definitely put me on her list. Now go get changed."

"fine, but at some point, you are going to give in," said, heading into the bathroom. Once I changed, we headed to the moroi commons. Lissa was already waiting. Christian and Tasha were with her. All three of them were talking about something.

"If we could get more royals to agree, she would have no choice but to try it," Tasha was saying.

"Try what?" I asked. Christian and Lissa jumped at my voice. Tasha hadn't seemed to be affected.

"We want to get moroi to fight with their guardians. It made such a huge difference in the battle and rescue. But tatiana isn't exactly known for her reasoning," Tasha said. I was about to respond, but Dimitri interrupted me.

"That's why you would need other royals, right? Have you got anyone on your side?"

"No. we haven't really asked anyone yet. But we'd need a full plan on how to educate moroi on fighting anyway. And so few know offensive magic nowadays, it'd be hard to find some one from each of the elements," Tasha said.

"And then there are spirit users," Lissa said, "We don't know of any real offensive abilities yet."

"Except for your freaking super compulsion thing. But I don't want you doing that again," I said. Shuddered from the memory of how that darkness had felt.

"Wouldn't work against strigoi anyway," Christian said, "all stories say they are immune to a Moroi's compulsion."

"We can talk about this another time. Right now, we need to get to the gate. The queen is probably already getting impatient," Dimitri said.

We all walked to the gate where the queen was awaiting us. She was talking to Kirova about something. When she finally noticed us, she smiled at Lissa and Dimitri, but glared when her eyes fell on Christian, Tasha, and I. Lissa noticed and sent me calming messages through the bond.

"Your majesty," DImitri said, bowing. He gave me a sideways glance that told me to do the same. And Lissa's mental message was saying the same thing. So I did, but grudgingly.

"Guardian Belikov, I only requested you and Princess Dragomir. And you bring three extras."

"We have paired some novices up with school guardians for a learning experience. And to keep from being short handed. Being my student, Rose was assigned to me. The Ozeras came to speak with you, I believe."

"I do not have time to speak with them right now. Maybe after the ceremony, if I have time. I brought some guardians from court to replenish the numbers. Miss Hathaway's presence will not be required anymore. She may go back to being with the other students."

"With all do respect, your majesty, I still believe Rose could benefit from staying on duty with me. She is one of the most promising and dedicated students in this school," DImitri said. I could hear the note of annoyance in his voice.

"The other guardians of the school are in favor of Rose staying on duty," Alberta said behind us. "Much of the damage during the attack was done by her. And she came up with the theory that we have on how the attack was able to happen."

"If you think it will be good for her, then I guess I am not one to argue. But she better not get in the way," the queen said. I gave Dimitri and Alberta grateful looks. The queen continued the conversation she was having with Kirova and we started to walk.

"We planned on holding the ceremony in the gym," the headmistress said. "all important events are held there. We just need to know how you would like it set up."

"Guardians will be getting their battle stars. We want the tattooing to be visible, so we should have a raised platform where it will happen," the queen said.

"We planned on that," Alberta said.

"How many strigoi were there? I have heard different things, but most of them seem obsurd. I would like to hear it from you," the queen said.

"There were a lot. Atleast fifty."

"Fifty? How did you manage to survive that?"

"early warning. Stan Alto was on guard duty and staked one. He called me. I was able to call a few other guardians before I got attacked. The Novices helped fight them off. Rose actually went over to the elementary campus to help. Most of the kills over there were from her."

"I helped," Christian said. so many eyes went to him at once. I saw Tasha step on his foot. The queen was sending the two of us glares.

"And why would Miss Hathaway have let you fight?" the queen asked harshly.

"Because I would have gone anyway. We could have lost a lot more. Once I knew what was happening, I figured what would losing one royal be compared to how many guardians we could have lost," Christian said. I wanted to kick him because of his stupidity for talking to the queen that way. But I was grateful to him for sticking up for me.

"Christian," me and two other people said. Lissa and Tasha were both staring at him in shock.

"what? We have to realize that if the moroi don't help guardians, we are going to end up defenseless once they are all gone. We can't take the strigoi on alone. The guardians seem to be able to at first glance, but look at the numbers. Aunt Tasha, you are left without a guardian because of the numbers. And almost all non royals are guardianless. Every one looks at Dhampirs as dispensable. They aren't. we need to see that," Christian said. I could feel pride and worry for him coming through my bond with Lissa.

"So you think putting yourself in danger was the way to prove that?" the queen asked.

"No. I think that was a way to show what Moroi can do when they help out their guardians. Rose and I may have an antagonistic relationship, but look at what we did. According to the other guardians who survived the attack on the elementary campus, we did almost half of the damage there."

At this point we had stopped walking. Lissa and Tasha were looking back and forth between Christian and Tatiana. Alberta, Kirova, and Dimitri were still shocked at the way he was talking to the woman. I wasn't too shocked. I was just worried about the queen would do or say to him. What did shock me, was what the queen did next.

"Christian Ozera, I do not appreciate the way you are speaking to me. I could have you removed from my sight this instant, and more. However, I see your point. What you and Miss Hathaway did no doubt turned the tables. But, you are a fire user, which means you have an advantage over strigoi that air, earth, and water users do not. Until we can find away for those elements to be used, there is nothing to be done," the queen said, then continued her walk.

Two hours later, I found myself in the gym for the ceremony. Lissa had convinced me to wear the black dress. I really had no choice considering that we were told to wear formal dress. I sat down close to the front, seeing as I was one of the ones getting a battle star on my neck. Dimitri and a few other guardians were out on patrol, but would switch out to get theirs. I wanted to patrol with him, but he said I needed to get ready. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded showing up late and in my training clothes. But Dimitri told me that it was important that I be here and dressed properly. I reluctantly said yes.

"Teachers, students, and Guardians," Queen tatiana started. "This school has been through much in the last couple of days. Between the attack and then the attempt to rescue thoe who were taken. We lost many guardians, teachers, and even some students. Before we do anything else, let us have a moment of silence for the lives lost." after a very breif moment, she started speaking again. "Now for the main reason we are here right now. Man guardians, and some students, have fought bravely. If not for them, the attack would have been much worse. Guardian Petrov."

"today, we are going to be putting a special mark on all those who have fought. When I call your names, please come up and be tattooed," Alberta said when she got up on the stage. She started calling out names. It went surprisingly fast. I realized at one point that my name had been skipped over. They were already at the P's. I hadn't been looking forward to my getting another mark on me, especially in front of everyone, but I still wanted to be acknowledged for doing my part. Dimitri came in just as alberta was getting her mark. She practically pushed him into the chair. Apparently he was late.

"The last two to get their marks are special. One of them is getting an extra mark, and the other is not a Dhampir," Alberta said. Murmurs started going around the room. "Christian Ozera, please come up to the platform and be the very first moroi to get a mark. You risked your life to help Rose Hathaway and the other guardians at the elementary campus." Christian didn't seem to enjoy the attention, but nonetheless, he went up with his head held high. "Our last one today is not only getting her battle star, but she is also getting her promise mark. Rose, come up please and receive your marks."

For a moment, I didn't respond. I knew they had talked about giving me my promise mark early, but I hadn't expected it to be so soon after the attack. Alberta said my name again. I was still surprised, but this time I actually got up. When Dimitri saw me, I swear, his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. Once I was up on the platform, I heard a few of the male students whistle. Dimitri looked like he wanted to kill them. Once my marks were done, I was congratulated. The queen said a few more words, which I naturally ignored, and we were released.

"Roza, that dress should be against the dress code," a voice behind me said as I headed toward my room. I jumped a bit, but recognized the voice.

"you really shouldn't sneak up on me like that, comrade. I might have a reflex one day and hit you."

"I am surprised you didn't this time. Congratulations on the promise mark."

"You knew. that's why you wouldn't let me patrol with you," I accused.

"Yes. I didn't think they would skip over you like they did. Although I am glad. I am proud of you. You went from being so far behind your classmates, to getting your promise mark four months before them. I am glad I got to see you get the mark."

"So how long until the queen leaves?"

"She is staying a little longer. She wants to talk to Tasha. Why?"

"Just wondering when we will have some time for each other. I was kind of hoping you would see the dress and snatch me away right then and there."

"I would, but our cabin is currently occupied."

"there are others," I said.

"but they aren't done up. Tasha fixed that one up so she wouldn't have to stay in the guest rooms. She knows about us, but I don't think she knows quite how far we have gotten. And if she knew about how special the cabin is to us, I am sure she would let it be. But I don't want to displace her."

"Fine," I pouted. Dimitri sighed. I think he wanted it as much as I did. "So when are we going back to business as usual?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Back to the nocturnal schedule. and classes."

"Well, We are going back on our regular schedule soon. Once the guardians that the queen brought have checked everything out. She brought many. Half of them are going back to court, though. But some will be staying here."

"What about classes?"

"Probably within week or so. The campus is mostly cleaned up. I don't know if we will be able to continue the trainings, though. The queen may have brought some help, but I don't know if it was enough. I may be pulling extra shifts."

"Wonderful," I said sarcastically. That meant less time than Dimitri than I already had. And practically no alone time.

"We'll find a way, Rose. Graduation is only four months away. We'll have plenty of time together then."

"HEy little Dhampir," Adrians voice came. I groaned.

"Adrian, go away," I said as Adrian walked up to us.

"Hey, Belikov can't monopolize all your time. I want some too."

"You aren't getting what you want, Adrian. At least not from me."

"You would give in if it weren't for the big Russian guy standing beside you," he said.

"I don't think so," I said.

"What do you want, Adrian," DImitri said, not exactly being polite.

"Just wanted to congratulate the little dhampir here on her marks. Oh, and Tasha Ozera is having a little get together. She' leaving for court tomorrow with my aunt. She told me to invite you two."

"Where?" I asked.

"The cabin she's staying in," Adrian said. Dimitri and I glanced at each other. "Come on, I'll show you."

"We already know where it is," Dimitri said.

"she said you'd say that. Its not the same one she was I the last time, apparently." Dimitri looked confused, and quite frakly I was, too. Why would Tasha change cabins when she already had one fixed up? "Well are you two coming or not?"

"Yeah, why not?" I said. Dimitri agreed. We fallowed Adrian to Tasha's new cabin.

"You two finally arrived I see," Tasha said. Lissa and Christian were sitting at a table with her, talking about something excitedly. "I have some good news."

"what would that be?" I asked as Dimitri, Adrian and I sat down at the table with Lissa and christian.

"The queen wants to hear my ideas on how moroi could fight with guardians. It could very well happen if she's on board with it. I just don't have a good pitch for it yet. I mean fire has an advantage over the strigoi, the others don't have that same advantage."

"You're smart, you can think of something," Dimitri said. I felt a little jealous at his compliment to her, but I pushed the jealousy away. I knew I had no reason to be jealous anymore.

"I have an idea for air users. Lissa told me about what happened with Dashkov. How he had his friend torture her with air. That could work against strigoi. Won't be as effective as it would be on moroi, but it sure as hell would stall them for a bit. And that's all a guardian needs," Tasha said. I couldn't believe she had brought that up to Lissa. There times that that still bothered her.

"Rose, its fine. I'm over all that now," Lissa said. Everyone, including myself, gave her confused looks.

"Liss, what are you talking about?" I asked.

" did'n't you just say something?"

"No, why?"

"I swear, I heard you say something just then," Lissa said. Then an idea came to me._ Lissa, I think you are hearing my thoughts. Can you hear me now?_

"Rose, you sound like one of those cell phone commercials," Lissa said. Then she realized what I'd said, or rather thought. "Holy crap!"

"Whats going on?" Dimitri asked. For once, I wasn't the one getting the look that said she's gone crazy. The others in the cabin were looking at Lissa like she had six heads.

"Lissa, I think you need some sleep," Christian said. Adrian was the first to figure out what was going on.

"Lissa, are you hearing her thoughts?"

"I think I am. But why? I've been wanting to know whats going on in her head since we first figured out she could read my thoughts."

"I'd like to know that too," I said.

"The bond first started after healing her right?" Adrian asked. Lissa and I nodded. "Well you healed her again after the rescue mission. And quite extensively then, too. Maybe the more you heal her, the stronger the bond becomes."

"it's a good theory, but why is it happening now, and not sooner?" Lissa asked.

"It took me longer to realize I was in your head, Lissa. Two weeks. Oh man, I am so paying you back now," I said.

"For what? Lissa asked. I didn't know if tasha knew about how far her and christian had gone, so I told her through the bond._ Those late night encounters with sparky that you've had while I was trying to get some shut eye. Lissa didn't seem to comprehend it at first, but then her eyes went wide. _"Oh man, Rose, I so don't want to see or be part of that!"

"What?" Dimitri and Christian asked together.

"Later," Lissa and I responded at the same time, as well.

"Okay, as entertaining as every one saying the same thing at the same time is, I believe Tasha is still trying to figure out how moroi can help their guardians," Adrian said.

"That's okay, Adrian. This is big for Lissa and Rose. And possibly you too, Adrian," Tasha said.

"What do you mean?"

"What if spirit users don't only have the ability to compel others to do what they want, but can also enter their minds."

'Its not in any of the stories we've heard about. We've been researching it," Adrian said.

"It makes sense, though. I made Jesse believe he was seeing spiders. That has to involve some form of entering anothers mind. But why would Rose be affected by my compulsion then?"

"You've never used it on me, Lissa. You only used it when necessary. But you have been able to calm me. Maybe that in itself is a mild form of compelling me."

"like I did with Jeremy before Dimitri caught us," Lissa said. I gave her a questioning look and she elaborated. "He was stressing over some test. I knew he wouldn't be able to focus if he kept up his worrying. And I was already compelling him to give us the car keys."

"it could work well for guardians to be able to brush into a strigois mind and find out what they are going to do next in a fight. And if they are bonded with their guardian, it makes it all the better. They won't even have to speak to tell them," Dimitri said thoughtfullly.

"Again, we run into the problem of strigoi being unaffected by Moroi compulsion," Christian said. "and all this is only theoretical anyway."

"He's right," Lissa said, " if the two abilities are linked, its likely that that means what holds true for one is true for the we are only theorizing here. I mean, we should still look into it, but I think it still leaves us spirit users without any defenses or offenses that could help our guardians. Unlike other moroi."

"Well, we haven't quite figured out all of the elements yet, Lissa," Tasha said. "Fire is obvious, and with what you told me about the air users. But water, earth and spirit are still left with out atttacks."

"Rose, yousaid something during a meeting about Mia Rindaldi. She was a water user, wasn't she?" Dimitri asked.

"Oh yeah. Mia was able to explode a fish tank and surround the head of the guy strigoi with water. Almost the same as an air user could."

"Is Mia still here?"

"No. she's at court now."

"I might have to find her and talk to her. Rinaldi you said?" Tasha asked.

"Yeah."

"Couldn't earth users just pelt the strigoi with rocks. Preferably sharp ones?" Adrian offered up. "Or restrain them using vines or something."

"Those could work," Tasha said.

"But lets not test it out with out knowing, shall we?" I said.

"Rose, this is all new. No one can really know for sure until its done in reality," Dimitri said. I could tell from his voice he wasn't happy with the fact, but he had to say it.

"I know. I just don't want to lose any Moroi because of our ideas."

"The first Moroi who try it will be purely volunteers. That was one of the queens restrictions. But I agree with her. No one should be fighting against their will."

"What were her other restrictions?" I asked.

"One of them was to keep this quiet. She doesn't want an uprising. I think she's afraid some Moroi will turn against her and use their powers against her."

"Well, maybe if he were a little nicer, that wouldn't be an issue," I said grumpily.

"She also doesn't want me trying this out randomly. She wants to hear everything in detail. I hope I can plan this out right for her. If all goes well, we shoul be able to start teaching offensive magic eventually."

"We will help in any way we can," Lissa said.

"you've helped me as much as you could, Lissa. But its more than enough. We should all go get some sleep. The plane leave at day break. I don't want to miss it," Tasha said. We all said our good byes. Adrian, Tasha, and Christian stayed behind while Dimitri led Lissa and I to our dorms.

"Why doesn't christian or Adrian have to come?" I asked.

"Adrian isn't a student, so curfew doesn't apply to him. Christian is spending the night with Tasha. Kirova okayed it. But you two still have to abide by the curfew."

"And here I thought I was making headway," I mumbled. Dimitri chuckled.

"You may be proving yourself, Roza, but you still have a lot to make up for. No one is going to forget any of the stunts you've pulled in the past. For all they know, this could be part of your plan. Besides, it gives me more reason to be around you."

"No getting mushy in front of me please," Lissa said.

"Lissa, would you mind elaborating on your outburst in there on not wanting to be a part of something?" DImitri asked. Lissa blushed.

"It has to do with her and sparky and the bond," I said.

"Still not getting it Rose."

"Think of the cabin, just replace you and me with her and Christian. And me getting sucked into her head."

"Oh," was all Dimitri could say.. We walked to Lissa's room in silence. Then Dimitri and I headed to the Dhampir dorms.

"Think we could take a little detour?" I asked. Dimitri gave me a questioning look. I got an idea. "catch me if you can," I said, then bolted. Dimitri was taken by surprise but it didn't last long.

"Hey, come back Rose," He yelled. I weaved in and out of the trees and bushes. My short height gave me an advantage over him. He had o duck when running through trees I didn't. I soon saw my destination. The cabin. Our cabin. I went inside it and hid behind the door, ready to attack him when he came in. the door opened, and he walked in. I closed the door behind him, locked it, and tackled him.

"Gotcha!"

"Rose, what posessed you to come here?"

"Some time with you," I said, kissing him.

"Roza," he groaned. "We shouldn't."

"Why not? The cabin isn't occupied, other than us. You are off duty, and we don't know when we will have time for something like this until after graduation."

"Roza, you know I want to, but we can't," he said. I immediately shut him up by kissing him again. This time, I put more passion into it. He responded. I knew my plan was working when I felt him pushing me towards the bed. I didn't realize how close to it we were, and fell back onto it with a thump. He pulled away from me. "Are you okay?"

"Its just a be comrade, I'm fine," I said, not very happy that he had stopped kissing me. He noticed my dispealsure, and began kissing me again, with twice the passion he had been before.

It wasn't long before we were undressing each other. He got rid of my dress just as quickly as he had the night of the lust charm. I quickly found the zipper to his pants and removed them and his shirt. Our underclothes left our bodies soon after and joined the rest of our clothes on the floor. As good as the first time had bee, the second time was so much better. I hadn't thought that was possible, but then again, me getting a man like Dimitri didn't seem possible either, but here he was. With me. I couldn't be happier.

"Roza," he said after we had both spent our selves, "We should get you back to your dorm."

"I want to stay here with you," I said, snuggling closer to him.

"It wouldn't be very good for you to show up in the morning in front of the queen with thee same dress on that you wore to the ceremony."

"we could always have Lissa bring me some clothes tomorrow. Or you could go get Lissa, stop by my dorm, and grab me some clothes. I mean, your room is in the same building, so it won't look odd for you to go there and pick something up, right?"

"Yes, but it would look odd for me to be carrying girls clothes across campus."

"So put them in a trash bag or something."

"I like the way you think, Roza," he said. I snuggled closer to him again, and fell asleep that way.


End file.
